The ASSQ-REV (Kopp and Gillberg, 2011) is a two page qualitative checklist of 45 items with Likert scaling for use by a parent or other adult familiar with a child. It is designed to be an initial screening tool for High Functioning ASD children of school age. It was particularly intended to help identify girls, who are often more difficult to recognise.
It may be posted/emailed to the concerned adult in advance when necessary. The instrument was based on parental reports, but might be applicable for use by teachers . It can also be completed by multiple family respondents to triangulate perspectives or situations.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Autism Spectrum Screening Questionaire | 64.86 KB |
The present version has substituted 5 point scaling for severity/frequency in place of the original 3 point Likert scaling, to enhance respondent observation and discriminability. A threshold score of 19 was found appropriate for the 3 point scoring format for screening purposes, and this can still be superimposed if desired. However the cut -off is based on limited sampling and not considered conclusive for clinical purposes. There was no gender difference for total scores, but gender patterns were evident for specific items. Expect wide individual and situational variability.
It is suggested that the ASSQ-RV is best employed qualitatively, at the level of individual items, and be augmented by other checklists such as PDDBI or CCC-2, DLHF, and targeted interview as needed. These may then all be matched with DSM5 criteria, across different contexts. Academic skills of word reading, spelling, and numeracy should also be examined routinely, given the possibility of comorbid SLD, or academic delay for other reasons. Targeted self-report techniques have not been used as with adults (cf RAADS-R, 2010) at this point. However use of a self-reported anxiety symptom checklist (cf Spence:SCAS,1998) for older children may be helpful, and provide useful confirmation/triangulation.
The extended article is available as a download, and should be cited in any report.