they asked a number of questions related to that and also, I guess, gave their "impression."
I wouldn't let anybody rule ASD in/out without some live observation of her interaction with peers, especially not a gifted girl.
The school psychologist (who worked really hard not to find any issues) ruled out the need for the ADOS for DS8 because, one-on-one with her (an adult he wanted to please) he had good eye contact and was chatty (she asked him about his areas of interest!).
I periodically run through the DSM-IV criteria (and now the DSM-V), and I did long before DS8 was diagnosed. I never saw it in there, but my idea of what "normal" is... clearly isn't.
When evaluated by the private specialist we were in the middle of preparing for the science fair and working on one of his favorite subjects. He turned every single question she had back to that. Was it textbook ASD? She said so. Was it typical behavior? Not really, because he *usually* doesn't get *that* intense unless really encouraged. Was is significant? Probably.
Unlike you I went to the evaluation to get AS ruled out. Ah ah...
But the most damning evidence came from classroom observations.
Parent/teacher questionnaires will only take you so far (especially if the parent is me, who finds a 3 or even 5 point scale completely inadequate to judge anything and always tend to skew to the middle).
His... differences are much more obvious when thrown in the middle of a group of age peers. If he is at the center of adult attention, he shines. With peers... not so much, especially if the environment is unstructured. But if he was more shy and less eager to interact with other kids (or socialized to be more socially passive, as girls often are) a lot of his difficulties could be missed.
