Socializing (Social Skills) Tests
Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2)
This standardized assessment tool examines behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, including socialization, communication, play, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. It can be administered in separate age-based modules from toddlers of 30 months to adults and to individuals with varying verbal fluency abilities. Information is gathered through a series of semistructured observations and is used to inform diagnosis, intervention, and academic planning.
-Catherine Lord, PhD, Michael Rutter, MD, et al.
Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ)
The SCQ is a screening measure of autism symptomatology for individuals suspected of having an ASD who are 4 years and older and have a minimum mental age of at least 2 years. The SCQ assists in the decision to consider a more comprehensive assessment of ASD with measures such as the ADOS-2 and ADI-R and was originally developed as a companion to the ADI-R. The SCQ is a 40-item parent-report rating scale with ‘yes or no’ questions that takes on average 15 minutes to complete and score. Two forms are available; one examines the individual’s entire developmental history while the other form assesses their behavior across the most current three month period. The measure uses a Total score which is compared to a cutoff score of 15. Any score of 15 or higher is considered significant for a possible ASD and further assessment is recommended. The item selection on the SCQ focuses on three specific domains or areas of functioning: Reciprocal Social Interaction (ability and/or a lack of desire to interact with peers), Communication, and Restricted, Repetitive, and Stereotyped Patterns of Behavior.
-Cathrine Lord, Michael Rutter, Anthony Bailey
Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)
This parent questionnaire measures the social impairment of autism spectrum disorder and rates the impairment from “nonexistent” to “severe”. This assessment tool can be used to assess individuals aged 4 to 18 years of age. It also provides specific information on an individual’s reciprocal social communication, social awareness, social information processing, social anxiety or avoidance, and traits of autism.
-John N. Constantino, MD
Test of Pragmatic Language (TOPL)
The TOPL is an individually administered measure of pragmatic or social language for those aged 5 to 13 years old and takes on average 30 to 45 minutes to administer. The TOPL uses standard scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The test model for the TOPL uses a three-dimensional system comprised of two pragmatic modes of communication, two pragmatic components, and six pragmatic variables. The two modes of communication include receptive language (incoming information) and expressive language (outgoing information). The first pragmatic component within this system is context which describes the environment of a conversation and the audience that conversation is directed towards. The second component is message or the actual communication itself which includes areas such as the topic, content, and purpose of the conversation. The third dimension houses six pragmatic variables which are: physical setting, audience, topic, purpose, visual-gestural cues, and abstraction.
-Diana Phelps-Terasaki, Trisha Phelps-Gunn
Wepman’s Auditory Discrimination Test – Second Edition (ADT)
The ADT is a quick assessment of a child’s ability to discriminate between phonemes, which are perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another, that are used in English and hear spoken language correctly. Auditory discrimination helps in the development of language and articulation in children and the ADT is used to measure this skill in those ages 4 to 8 years. It is commonly used in children with suspected learning, speech, and language difficulties. Word pairs are presented and the examinee is instructed to indicate verbally or nonverbally whether the two words are the same or different. The ADT is available in two forms for retesting and each form contains 40 pair word items. 30 items are dissimilar by a single phoneme while the rest are identical. Calculated scores include a raw ADT Total score, a Qualitative score, T scores, and percentiles. The Qualitative score ranges from -2 to +2 and is an estimate of discriminative ability level. The T scores have a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10 with a score less than 40 indicative of a deficit in auditory discrimination.
-Joseph M. Wepman, William M. Reynolds