Assessing Personal Constructs of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Person-Centered Measure of Social Cognition.

Five verbally fluent teens with autism sat down for a new kind of interview. The researchers used repertory grids: a tool that asks kids to compare people in their lives and say how they are alike or different.

Each teen picked eight familiar people (mom, teacher, friend). They sorted these people on traits like "fun" versus "boring" and "helps me" versus "ignores me." Visual cards and gentle prompts kept the task clear.

Every teen finished the grid. Their answers formed tidy maps of social roles. They showed clear ideas about who supports them, who bosses them, and who shares their interests.

The maps looked like those of typical peers. This hints that their social thinking is more organized than standard tests often show.

Cary et al. (2024) asked autistic youth to rate their own social motivation. They found the teens’ self-scores added new info beyond parent reports. Sean et al. now adds a second self-report tool—repertory grids—to capture social cognition that parents might miss.

Robinson et al. (2011) built the CASS role-play to spot context-based social slips. Both CASS and repertory grids are quick, lab-friendly measures for high-functioning teens. Using them together could give you two views: one from acted scenes and one from personal maps.

Hamama et al. (2021) saw that autistic young adults who understand social rules often feel less confident about romance. Sean’s grids could help you see why: a teen may label peers accurately yet place themselves on the edge of the map, revealing hidden loneliness.

If you assess verbally fluent clients, repertory grids offer a 20-minute window into their social world. No right or wrong answers mean less test anxiety. You can use the map to pick goals (e.g., move "classmate" closer to "helps me") and to show parents concrete strengths. Pair it with a motivation self-rating or a role-play for a fuller picture.