The Development of the Autism Social Skills Profile

Abstract

There is currently a critical need to develop reliable and valid social skills assessment tools for children and adolescents With autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP) is a neW assessment tool that provides a comprehensive measure of social functioning in children and adolescents With ASD. The ASSP Was designed to assist With intervention planning and to provide a measure of intervention outcomes. This study provided a preliminary analysis of the psychometric properties of the ASSP to determine the underlying structure, or subscales, of the instrument. Results indicate that the ASSP has excellent psychometric properties With respect to internal consistency, test—retest reliability, and concurrent validity. Results suggest that the ASSP contains three subscales, labeled Social Reciprocity, Social Participation/ Avoidance, and Detrimental Social Behaviors.