Overview
The Assessment of Social and Communication Skills for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Revised (ASCS-2; Quill & Brusnahan, 2017) was designed to assess skills, prioritize needs, target goals, and plan intervention. It helps track measured progress of skill acquisition, skill mastery, and skill generalization across multiple social and communication dimensions. The ASCS-2 includes three components that help to create children’s social and communication behavior profile, identify social learning obstacles, and assess social and communication skills. The tools may be used individually or together, though the authors recommend that the ASCS-2 Behavior Profile be completed before completing the ASCS-2 Skills Checklist. The first component, the ASCS-2 Behavior Profile yields qualitative data and is conducted through structured team interviews, record review, and observations. Sections include: Social and Communication Partners, Social Activities, Social Interactions, Communication Foundation, Communication Means, and Communication Functions. Team members rate the child’s level of skill in each of these as absent, emerging, or present. The second component, the ASCS-2 Obstacles Questionnaire, is completed via structured team interviews and through observations; both qualitative and quantitative data are the result. Sections include: Social Behaviors, Communication Behaviors, Prompt Dependency, Sensory Challenges, Social Motivation, and Challenging Behaviors. Items are rated based on the degree to which behavior interferes with social and communicative functioning and/or learning (mild, moderate, or significant obstacle). The third component, the ASCS-2 Skills Checklist, is also completed through structured team interviews and observations and direct sampling of child behavior; it yields quantitative outcomes. Skills are rated as absent, emerging, mastered, or generalized. The most common use of this checklist is for educational planning. Four areas are measured by the Checklist: Core Skills, Social Skills, Communication Skills, and Community Skills. This assessment is a part of the book DO-WATCH-LISTEN-SAY, Second Edition: Social and communication intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Summary
Age: School-age children
Time to Administer: Depends on component administered
Method of Administration: Individually-administered set of questionnaires that yield both qualitative and quantitative data about various social and communication skills; useful for educational planning and progress monitoring
Depending on the component, yields qualitative information (Components 1 and 2) or quantitative information (raw scores for Component 2, percentages for Component 3)
Subscales: ASCS-2 Behavior Profile: Social and Communication Partners, Social Activities, Social Interactions, Communication Foundation, Communication Means, and Communication Functions.
ASCS-2 Obstacles Questionnaire: Social Behaviors, Communication Behaviors, Prompt Dependency, Sensory Challenges, Social Motivation, and Challenging Behaviors.
ASCS-2 Skills Checklist: Core Skills, Social Skills, Communication Skills, and Community Skills.
Autism Related Research
None found.