Childhood Autism Rating Scale

There is a lot of assessment tools to help in the diagnosis of autism available. One of them is the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS).

CARS was developed by Eric Schopler, Robert Reichler and Barbara Rochen Renner. Just like any other autism assessment tool, it was made to help in the diagnosis of autism in children. CARS was designed to help clinicians tell autism apart from other developmental conditions, such as intellectual disability. It gives clinicians a structured way to describe what they observe during an autism evaluation.

How it Works

CARS works by rating your child’s behavior, characteristics, and abilities against the expected developmental growth of a typical child.

As stated in the CARS, these characteristics are evaluated:

• Relationship to people
• Imitation
• Emotional response
• Body use
• Object use
• Adaptation to change
• Visual response
• Listening response
• Taste-smell-touch response and use
• Fear and nervousness
• Verbal communication
• Non-verbal communication
• Activity level
• Level and consistency of intellectual response
• General impressions

A trained professional rates the child’s behavior in each area from 1 to 4, using direct observation and information from parents and teachers. 1 being normal for your child’s age, 2 for mildly abnormal, 3 for moderately abnormal, and 4 as severely abnormal. Total scores range from 15 to 60. On the original CARS, a score of 30 or more suggests autism: 30 to 36.5 indicates mild to moderate autism, and 37 to 60 severe autism. A second edition, the CARS2, was published in 2010. Keep in mind that while the Childhood Autism Rating Scale can easily be accessed on the internet, using it to evaluate your child on your own is not advised. It is still best to seek professional help in interpreting the result of your child’s CARS.

It should be remembered that constant and keen observation of your child is important when completing the CARS. The parent or teacher or medical provider should be able to have a good understanding of the criteria so that accurate results can also be obtained. If any confusion arises, do not hesitate in any way to clear it up with the person in charge of giving you the test. CARS is normally used with children 2 years of age and above. CARS has also been used with adolescents.

References:

Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., & Renner, B. R. (1988). The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.

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