ADOS-2

Overall Level of Non-Echoed Spoken Speech

• Fluent, complex sentences using varied grammar and connectives (e.g., "I went to the museum yesterday, although it was quite crowded").

Speech Abnormalities Associated with Autism

• Flat, monotone prosody with occasional mechanical rhythm; volume occasionally too loud for the room size when discussing preferred topics.

Immediate Echolalia

• None observed during the assessment.

Stereotyped/Idiosyncratic Use of Words or Phrases

• Frequent use of formal, pedantic phrasing (e.g., "That is logically inconsistent," "Commencing construction") and repetitive use of the phrase "Essentially speaking" to start sentences.

Offers Information

• Spontaneously offered detailed facts about Sydney train timetables and historical locomotive models, but rarely offered personal or emotional information unless directly prompted.

Asks for Information

• Did not ask the examiner any questions about their thoughts, feelings, or personal experiences, even when the examiner mentioned having a pet dog and going on a recent holiday.

Reporting of Events

• Able to recount a recent family trip to the Blue Mountains and routine daily events with high factual accuracy (e.g., road numbers, exact departure times), though required prompting to describe the social aspects of the trip.

Conversation

• Struggled with reciprocal turn-taking; frequently steered the conversation back to public transport systems and lectured at length without checking for listener engagement.

Shared Enjoyment in Interaction

• Smiled and showed clear excitement when completing the puzzle and discussing trains, but enjoyment appeared internally focused rather than shared socially with the examiner.

Communication of Own Affect

• Facial expressions were largely neutral; verbally identified feeling "frustrated" when a block tower fell, but vocal tone and facial affect remained flat.

Comments on Others' Emotions/Empathy

• Correctly identified basic emotions (happy, sad) in the picture book task, but did not respond to or comment on the examiner's feigned disappointment during the break activity.

Insight into Typical Social Situations and Relationships

• Defined a friend strictly as "someone who goes to the same school and likes the same games," demonstrating limited insight into the emotional reciprocity or trust involved in friendships.

Responsibility

• Acknowledged basic household chores (e.g., feeding the family cat) and school rules, though viewed them strictly as rigid routines rather than social responsibilities to others.

Quality and Amount of Social Overtures

• Social overtures were infrequent and primarily instrumental (e.g., asking for more puzzle pieces) or focused on sharing factual information about his circumscribed interests, lacking integration of eye contact.

Quality of Social Response

• Responded consistently to direct questions from the examiner, though responses were often brief and literal unless the topic aligned with his specific interests.

Amount of Reciprocal Social Communication

• Reduced overall; interactions felt largely one-sided, requiring significant scaffolding from the examiner to maintain a back-and-forth exchange.

Imagination/Creativity

• Demonstrated limited spontaneous pretend play; during the "Creating a Story" task, he lined up the objects by size and described their physical attributes rather than inventing a narrative.

Overall Quality of Rapport

• Cooperative and polite throughout the session, but the interaction felt somewhat stiff and formal, requiring sustained effort from the examiner to maintain engagement.