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Development of the Contextual Assessment of Social Skills (CASS): A Role Play Measure of Social Skill for Individuals with High-Functioning Autism

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Abstract

This study piloted a role play assessment of conversational skills for adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism/Asperger syndrome (HFA/AS). Participants completed two semi-structured role plays, in which social context was manipulated by changing the confederate’s level of interest in the conversation. Participants’ social behavior was rated via a behavioral coding system, and performance was compared across contexts and groups. An interaction effect was found for several items, whereby control participants showed significant change across context, while participants with HFA/AS showed little or no change. Total change across contexts was significantly correlated with related social constructs and significantly predicted ASD. The findings are discussed in terms of the potential utility of the CASS in the evaluation of social skill.

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Acknowledgments

This project was part of a larger study, an investigation of social cognition and interaction training for adolescents for autism (SCIT-A) funded by Autism Speaks (Penn, PI, Turner-Brown, Co-PI; Grant #1949). Renee Clark of the Research Participant Registry Core of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, which is supported by the Eunice Shriver Kennedy National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, provided recruitment resources. Joseph Piven, Ph.D. is the director of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, which provided the infrastructure for this research project. Chris Weisen, Ph.D. of the Odum Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill provided statistical consulting. The following UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduate students served as research assistants: Paige Allmendinger, Bianca Brooks, Sierra Carter, Lauren Catalano, Alexis Georgeson, Ben Gootman, Tiffany Holung, Colin Iwanski, Caroline Oates, Anderson Shackleford, and Jeremy Weaver.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Davie Hall, CB#3270, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3270, USA

    Allison B. Ratto, Betty M. Rupp & David L. Penn

  2. Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Lauren Turner-Brown & David L. Penn

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Gary B. Mesibov

Authors
  1. Allison B. Ratto
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  2. Lauren Turner-Brown
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  3. Betty M. Rupp
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  4. Gary B. Mesibov
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  5. David L. Penn
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Correspondence to David L. Penn.

Additional information

These results were presented in part at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia, PA, May 2010.

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Ratto, A.B., Turner-Brown, L., Rupp, B.M. et al. Development of the Contextual Assessment of Social Skills (CASS): A Role Play Measure of Social Skill for Individuals with High-Functioning Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 1277–1286 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1147-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1147-z

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