This study employed a newly developed measure, the Social Skills Q-Sort (SSQ), to assess paraprofessionals’ and teachers’ reports of social skills for children with and without ASD. Paraprofessionals and teachers showed good rater-agreement on the SSQ. ROC curve analyses yielded an excellent profile of sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between children with ASD and typically developing children. The paraprofessional SSQ converged with objective ratings of playground social behavior; however, there was little evidence of convergence between SSQ scores and parent and teacher ratings on questionnaire measures. The SSQ may be effective in screening for ASD and the severity of ASD-related social communication challenges.
BaumingerN.KasariC. (2000). Loneliness and friendship in high-functioning children with autism. Child Development, 71, 447-456.
2.
BelliniS. (2004). Social skill deficits and anxiety in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 19, 78-86.
3.
BelliniS.HopfA. (2007). The development of the autism social skills profile: A preliminary analysis of psychometric properties. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 22(2), 80-87.
4.
BelliniS.PetersJ. K.BennerL.HopeA. (2007). A meta-analysis of school-based social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Remedial and Special Education, 28, 153-162.
5.
BrockS. E.JimersonS. R.HansenR. L. (2006). Identifying, assessing, and treating autism at school. New York, NY: Springer.
6.
CampbellD. T.FiskeD. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81-105.
7.
ChamberlainB.KasariC.Rotheram-FullerE. (2007). Involvement or isolation? The social networks of children with autism in regular classrooms. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 230-242.
8.
ConstantinoJ. N.GruberC. P. (2005). The social responsiveness scale (SRS) manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
9.
ConstantinoJ. N.LajonchereC.LutzM.GrayT.AbbacchiA.McKennaK.ToddR. D. (2006). Autistic social impairment in the siblings of children with pervasive developmental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 294-296.
10.
GreshamF. M.ElliottS. N. (1990). Social skills rating system. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
11.
KasariC.FreemanS. F. N.BaumingerN.AlkinM. C. (1999). Parental perspectives on inclusion: Effects of autism and Down syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 297-305.
12.
KasariC.LockeJ.GulsrudA.Rotheram-FullerE. (2011). Social networks and friendships at school: Comparing children with and without autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 533-544.
13.
KasariC.Rotheram-FullerLockeJ. (2005). The development of the Playground Observation of Peer Engagement (POPE) measure. Unpublished manuscript, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
14.
LockeJ.KretzmannM.KasariC. (2008). The Social Skills Q-Sort. Unpublished manuscript, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
15.
LordC.RutterM.Le CouteurA. (1994). Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 24(5), 659-685.
16.
LordC.RisiS.LambrechtL.CookE. H.Jr.LeventhalB. L.DiLavoreP. C.RutterM. (2000). The autism diagnostic observation schedule—generic: A standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 205-223.
17.
MacintoshK.DissanayakeC. (2006). Social skills and problem behaviours in school aged children with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 1065-1076.
18.
McConnellS. R. (2002). Interventions to facilitate social interaction for young children with autism: Review of available research and recommendations for educational intervention and future research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32, 351-372.
19.
MeierC. R.DiPernaJ. C.OsterM. M. (2006). Importance of social skills in the elementary grades. Education & Treatment of Children, 29, 409-419.
20.
PineE.LubyJ.AbbacchiA.ConstantinoJ. N. (2006). Quantitative assessment of autistic symptomatology in preschoolers. Autism, 10, 344-352.
21.
ReisingerE. M.HarkerC. M.XieM.ShinS.MandellD. S. (2010). Parent–teacher concordance on the Social Responsiveness Scale for children with an existing ASD diagnosis. Poster presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, Philadelphia, PA.
22.
Rotheram-FullerE.KasariC.ChamberlainB.LockeJ. (2010). Grade related changes in the social inclusion of children with autism in general education classrooms. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 1227-1234.
23.
WatersE.DeaneK. E. (1985). Defining and assessing individual differences in attachment relationships: Q-methodology and the organization of behavior in infancy and early childhood. Child Development, 50, 41-65.
24.
Williams WhiteS.KeonigK.ScahillL. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1858-1868.
