Discrepancies When Assessing Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Diagnostic Indicator.

Gómez-Pérez et al. (2019) compared two ways of measuring social problem-solving in kids. They asked children with autism and neurotypical children to solve social puzzles on their own. They also asked parents and teachers to rate each child’s everyday social skills.

The team then looked for gaps between the child’s test score and the adult ratings. They wanted to know if these gaps showed up only in autism.

Only the autism group had big gaps. Their test scores looked fine, but adults saw clear social struggles. The neurotypical kids showed no such split.

The authors say this mismatch itself can flag autism during diagnosis.

Knott et al. (2006) saw the same split earlier. Parents rated social skills worse than their autistic children did. Mar’s team shows the gap is still there in late elementary years.

Morrison et al. (2017) seems to disagree. They found no gap between toddler skills and parent report across any group. The difference is age: toddlers may not yet show the split that emerges by eight to eleven years.

Cederlund et al. (2010) widens the lens. They found self- versus parent-report gaps in teens and young adults with Asperger’s. Together the studies trace a line: the older the child, the wider the view gap.

If you test social problem-solving, always add a parent or teacher form. A large gap between child score and adult rating is a red flag for autism, not poor parenting. Use both pieces to guide goals and to explain assessment results to families.