Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disorder that affects how children socialize, communicate, and behave. in Canada, approximately 1/66 school-aged children have ASD. It is important to be able to diagnose children with ASD, because once a child is diagnosed, the healthcare team can help the child connect with the right supports in order to reach their full potential.
ASD is diagnosed clinically, which means there is no specific blood test or medical image that can give the diagnosis. Instead, doctors and healthcare teams make the diagnosis, sometimes with help from a diagnostic tool. The ADOS-2 is an in-person diagnostic tool often used for this purpose. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, in-person assessments have been minimized to keep families and healthcare providers safe. The Tele-ASD-Peds is a diagnostic tool developed at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Centre in Nashville, Tennessee, for virtual diagnosis of ASD. If this virtual took is found to be effective, it could be used not only during the pandemic, but also in the future for patients and families who live in northern or remote communities. Virtual appointments may also make diagnosis happen more quickly, which could allow the child to connect with supports sooner. The goal of this study is to describe SSCY Centre’s initial use of the Tele-ASD-Peds during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to consider how the tool helps in the overall clinical diagnosis of ASD. This study will also add to the ongoing research regarding the use of the Tele-ASD-Peds.