Please read the following questions carefully, and choose the appropriate answer. All responses are confidential.
Report details · optional
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About this screener — evidence, source, alternatives
Formerly the Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test. Thirty-one of the 37 questions score 1 point in the autistic direction (six are control items about general development), giving a total of 0–31. Developed for mainstream primary-school children and validated in a UK population sample.
Evidence · validated
In 1,925 children aged 5–11 in mainstream Cambridgeshire schools, a cut-point of 15 gave sensitivity 100%, specificity 97% and PPV 50% against consensus diagnosis (Williams et al., 2005). The authors recommend it for epidemiological screening and caution that evidence is insufficient for whole-population public-health screening; low PPV means many positive screens will not be autistic.
Free alternative to
- Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) · WPS
Paid yes/no parent autism screen of similar length; the CAST is the free alternative.
Source & licence
Scott FJ, Baron-Cohen S, Bolton P, Brayne C. The CAST (Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test): preliminary development of a UK screen for mainstream primary-school-age children. Autism. 2002;6(1):9–31. Williams J, Scott F, Stott C, et al. The CAST (Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test): test accuracy. Autism. 2005;9(1):45–68.
Licence: © Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge — free for research and clinical use, non-commercial, with acknowledgement
ARC terms: tests may be used free of charge for non-commercial purposes with due acknowledgement of ARC as the source, and may not be adapted or modified without ARC permission. For-profit or commercial users may need a licence (via ePROVIDE). Reproduced unmodified; rights holders can contact us to correct or remove.
Official source ↗