Abstract

Objective
The dearth of tools to quantify and track growth in social communication ability has been a barrier to understanding and monitoring treatment outcomes for neurodevelopmental disorders. We undertook a multi-staged, multisite study to create the Developmental Assessment of Social Communication Ability (DASCA), a new measure explicitly developed as a clinical outcome assessment for monitoring change—both over the course of development and in response to treatment.
Methods
The DASCA is a caregiver-report instrument created using a mixed-methods approach. Qualitative components of this approach included focus groups and cognitive debriefing interviews. Quantitative components included dimensionality analysis, differential item functioning, and item response theory modeling. The item bank was iteratively refined to assess social communication skills that are typically acquired by early- to …

Date

October 16, 2025

Authors

Aaron J Kaat, Audrey Thurm, Cristan Farmer, Shuting Zheng, Sheila Ghods, Stelios Georgiades, Stephen Kanne, Shrikanth Narayanan, Somer L Bishop

Journal

Molecular Autism

Volume

16

Issue

1

Pages

52

Publisher

BioMed Central