Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ)
The ASSQ is a 27 question assessment filled in by parents or teachers of children or adolescents (6 to 17
years of age). It is designed to be an initial screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) especially in those
with high or normal IQ, or those with only mild intellectual disability.
Instructions:
Please read the statement below and indicate by tapping, No, Somewhat, or Yes if this child stands
out as different from other children of his/her age in the following ways:
No Somewhat Yes
1 is old-fashioned or precocious 0 1 2
2 is regarded as an "eccentric professor" by the other children 0 1 2
3 lives somewhat in a world of his/her own with restricted idiosyncratic 0 1 2
intellectual interests
4 accumulates facts on certain subjects (good rote memory) but does 0 1 2
not really understand the meaning
5 has a literal understanding of ambiguous and metaphorical language 0 1 2
6 has a deviant style of communication with a formal, fussy, old- 0 1 2
fashioned or "robot like" language
7 invents idiosyncratic words and expressions 0 1 2
8 has a different voice or speech 0 1 2
9 expresses sounds involuntarily; clears throat, grunts, smacks, cries or 0 1 2
screams
10 is surprisingly good at some things and surprisingly poor at others 0 1 2
11 uses language freely but fails to make adjustment to fit social contexts 0 1 2
or the needs of different listeners
12 lacks empathy 0 1 2
13 makes naive and embarrassing remarks 0 1 2
14 has a deviant style of gaze 0 1 2
15 wishes to be sociable but fails to make relationships with peers 0 1 2
16 can be with other children but only on his/her terms 0 1 2
17 lacks best friend 0 1 2
18 lacks common sense 0 1 2
19 is poor at games: no idea of cooperating in a team, scores "own goals" 0 1 2
20 has clumsy, ill coordinated, ungainly, awkward movements or gestures 0 1 2
21 has involuntary face or body movements 0 1 2
22 has difficulties in completing simple daily activities because of 0 1 2
compulsory repetition of certain actions or thoughts
23 has special routines: insists on no change 0 1 2
24 shows idiosyncratic attachment to objects 0 1 2
25 is bullied by other children 0 1 2
26 has markedly unusual facial expression 0 1 2
27 has markedly unusual posture 0 1 2
Results consist of a total score between 0 and 54, where higher scores indicate that many characteristics
of ASD were reported.
A score of 13 and above indicates ASD is probable, with a true positive rate of 90% and a false positive
rate of 22% (Ehlers, Gillberg, Wing, 1999).
