The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), formerly known as the Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ), is a screening measure that was developed to identify symptomology associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Rutter et al. 2003a). It is widely recognized in the field as a recommended screening measure for ASD (Coonrod and Stone 2005; Hus and Lord 2011).
The SCQ contains 40 yes/no items that are completed by the parent or primary caregiver. It is applicable to individuals whose chronological age is over 4 years, provided that their mental age is over 2 years. A body of research is accumulating that aims to determine the utility of the SCQ in young children, however (e.g., Corsello et al. 2003).
There are two versions of the SCQ. The Lifetime version inquires about the individual’s entire developmental history, and the items in the Current version refer to the individual’s behavior in the most recent 3-month.
