Sarah scored a point under the radar for autism on CARS so they gave her a provisional autism label...at the time Sarah still refused to have conversations with us or anybody and her expressive language was very low as well as social skills..I dont feel this test is geared for pragmatic language problems at all~she is very smart child that can academically do well on tests but in expressive language and social skills she falters. Sharlet scored Moderate-severe almost 1.5 years ago and it was accurate then.
I hope it will be redone soon(but I think maybe not till she starts school, if ever) I expect/hope she would score moderate now.
The vineland scares me! I don't know why, I guess because it breaks it down into age equivalents...those always seem so low to me on Mason's scores...like I know he is higher than what the score is saying. Maybe I need to accept that he is just that delayed in some areas???
Mason only just had the CARS done this past April for the first time...so I'm not too sure how accurate it really is and have nothing to compare it to. Mason scored mild-moderate...and that does seem accurate to me.
I didn't think it was accurate in Lachlans case - but it may be very accurate in other kids cases.
In Lachlans case I asked about allowances being made for prematurity and they said he testing didn't allow for this. Lachlans diagnosis came back as classic autistic - low functioning which I could and do see as being wrong even at this early stage.
I'll chime in and say my favorite test for looking at progress ("favorite test" - is that sick or what? LOL) is the Vineland. Mild/moderate/whatever doesn't tell me much. When I heard "mild ASD" re: C my thought was so what does that mean? Is that like being a little bit pregnant? I find the Vineland gives me the most accurate picture of where he is, where the gaps are and how big the gaps are.It scored my son a little higher than what other tests showed. The dev ped was surprised. I think usually it's fairly accurate though.I didn't know it was for children up to age 5 - the dev ped gave it to ds after he had turned 5 (but JUST past). It scored my son mild to moderate and other tests scored mild.[QUOTE=flip]Mamasquash, Is your son considered mild?
I would consider him moderate actually! We did a bunch of testing recently to assess his growth after using a hyperbaric chamber....so the CARS was just one of many we used. Prior to his treatments he came out as mild on the CARS and after he scored in not having autism. He did make major gains after the treatments....we did a whole battery of testing - about 8 different assessments and he made gains in every area. So that part was cool....just laughed about the CARS though.
Flip - that was the response from the organisation we are using at the moment - but i had always planned to get an independent assessment when lachlan turns 5.
Services where I live are not good.
I actually thought the CARS gave him too much credit or that he was too close to not autistic, when clearly he is. Our Developmental Specialist/Floortime Consultant does the CARS every 6 months.
He had parts of the Vineland done through the school district last year and they won't repeat that for a couple of years. I should ask our psych. if she ever does that, she also uses the CARS. We do annual testing in December or January and she gives us a detailed report.
It scored my son as not having autism at all!!!! Go figure!Mamasquash, Is your son considered mild?
Mysh, I'm surprised that they don't repeat it? Yes, he may still may ASD, but I would think you need to gauge where the symptoms are so you know if you are imporving.
They also used the DECA to measure social emotional growth. I don't have the results yet, but we were just getting a baseline so we can remeasure in 6 months. I do understand it gives age equivalents. Anyone heard of this test?I also asked when the test would be repeated and was told it wouldn't. They said 'Theres no point, it wouldn't change the diagnosis anyway"!
Kind of amazing that they are willing to give Lachlan a lifelong tag based on a 40 minute assesment.
yes, we found it very accurate.
In Oct of 2005 she scored severe and about 6 months ago she scored mild--moderate.
The girls had a cars score which was essentially equivalent to their ADOS score - both instruments were administered around the same time, but by different evaluators. Both instruments showed that the girls have mild/moderate autistic disorder. It seems accurate to me.
Do you feel the Childhood Autism Rating Scale is an good test for judging functioning level? My son was recently reevaluated and his score did come down 4 points. Which is good, especially given all of the improvement we've seen over the past 6 months. I assume this is good news and regardless I'm thrilled with the improvements.
I'm just curious if this is standard for evaluating children and if so, was it accurate of your child? I believe it is for young children up to age 5.
I think ds is on the border with the CARS test when I recently answered the questions on it. I agree that the Vineland is a more accurate measure. It does scare me when I see some of the scores, but it also motivates me in getting him working on some of those life skills! And, he's made great progress this summer![QUOTE=flip]They also used the DECA to measure social emotional growth. I don't have the results yet, but we were just getting a baseline so we can remeasure in 6 months. I do understand it gives age equivalents. Anyone heard of this test?[/QUOTE]