Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ)

The SCQ is a screening questionnaire that asks a parent about behaviours associated with autism — whether the child points to show interest, uses gestures, joins in pretend play with other children, has unusual preoccupations, or repeats phrases in unusual ways.

Forty yes-or-no questions are drawn directly from the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised, so the content parallels a full diagnostic interview that takes over an hour. Two forms exist. The Lifetime Form asks whether behaviours have ever been present and produces a total for referral decisions. The Current Form asks about the last three months, and is used for planning and tracking change rather than screening.

Licensing Notes: Published by WPS (2003), and previously known as the Autism Screening Questionnaire. Forms and manual are available in English and Spanish. Reproduction requires publisher permission.

Learn More: The cut-off is contested. 15 or above is the published threshold, but independent studies have found it performs poorly under age 4 and have proposed alternatives from 10 to 13 for younger children. Sensitivity and specificity both shift substantially with the cut-off chosen, and one analysis found the SCQ performs better from about age 7.5 upward. The SCQ is a screener, not a diagnostic instrument — a positive result means refer for full evaluation.