Levels in ASD how does it work?

puzzlehead

When i was diagnosed with Autism age 24 I wasn’t diagnosed under any level and i didn’t know there were levels in autism. How would i know what level i am?

Furthermore if i was L2/3 is it possible to ever manage work paid or unpaid? I would really like to do so but when i’ve previously tried it never worked out and now i’m suffering deep depression

puzzlehead

I am also not academically smart or driven

I never liked school and have no desire to study as nothing interests me

However I would like to do something with my time to better my mental health and become social and hopefully make some friends

puzzlehead

@Community_Scope please remove this post my question has been answered thanks!

WhatThe

Hi puzzlehead, I'd not heard of them until I joined Scope. Still don't know much but I think we imported them.

I read your other post and hope I have some suggestions for you there.

Does anyone know about what ASD levels are about??

MsR

I was diagnosed a few years now with ADOS 2. The report that will come with that has a table of scores and the scores will range from 0 to 3. 3 being the most severe. I scored at highest some level 2 in some of mine. I find it interesting as if you had a bad period, you may score higher possibly. Today since I did my test, my life has changed in some areas I think and I have discussed this with a consultant, that may have higher needs today than I did when I did the test.

The scoring I think came from the DSM 5 in the US which has mention of support levels.

Support levels can be used to determine about social support in the community or with benefit. Like with PIP they have a different route for autistics who are severe level 3 than someone who has a mild case.

anisty

Interestingly, my daughter's just been diagnosed privately but at a clinic that used the gold standard assessments so ADOS and exactly the same as my son got on the NHS.

And there was no level on the report. When i queried it, they told me it was an American thing used for insurance purposes.

Having read the descriptions, my son seems to fall right between 2 and 3.

My daughter level 1. My son has a cognitive difficulty too and needs support.

MsR

Anisty, that was a bit of a shame that the scores were not on there.

If you felt like and wanted to perhaps you can email them and ask directly for the scores. You can give reasons why you would like them. People can vary in different levels for different things. Like my stereotyped behaviour is at Level 2 , where in another category the results were different and a mix. It would be a bit unsual if your daughter just scored 1 throughout the ADOS test.

anisty

Thanks - i did message about the levels but got the answer that it is more an American thing. It is fine though for my daughter as she hopefully will never need to claim benefits or be disabled by her autism. She had a mental health crisis last year, CAMHS were useless but i had an inkling autism was behind it. She's lots better now - now she's left school she should be able to find her own path but at least she has the written report if any future employer needs to make reasonable adjustments for her.

My son - he is disabled and qualifies for pip. He was diagnosed back in 2013 so no levels on there either!

MsR

anisty I wish you the best with everything.

I thought I would attach what the ADOS scores look like. I couldn't find anything like that online to link to. I have removed my scores.

scores.png

scores2.png

scores3.png

anisty

Thanks for that! That's really interesting; never seen that before.

With my daughter's (and son's) reports, lots of those things are referred to in narrative style.

My daughter masks very well - even i wasn't 100% sure she'd meet the criteria. She wasn't too keen on getting the assessment but it's a weight off my mind to know what was causing her behaviour and it's there now in case she needs it in future (the diagnosis)