Measuring Changes in Social Communication Behaviors: Preliminary Development of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC).

Grzadzinski et al. (2016) built the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC). They filmed short play samples of minimally verbal preschoolers with autism.

Two coders later watched the clips and rated social-communication items. The team checked if scores stayed the same between raters and if scores moved after several months.

The BOSCC proved reliable; different coders gave almost the same ratings. Scores also tracked real growth in social-communication behaviors over time.

The tool picked up changes that standard language tests often miss in minimally verbal children.

Kitzerow et al. (2016) ran a near-copy study the same year and saw the same good reliability plus medium-sized symptom reduction after one year. Together the two papers form the base evidence for the BOSCC.

Byrne et al. (2022) extended the tool, creating the BOSCC-PSYF for kids who already use phrase speech or fluent language. Their version still worked, showing the core idea travels beyond minimally verbal preschoolers.

MacFarland et al. (2025) pushed further, proving that trained observers can code BOSCC online and get the same results as manual scoring. This opens the door for remote teams and future AI assistance.

Wang et al. (2011) warned that older parent-report social scales like SSRS and PKBS are sturdy for screening but poor at catching day-to-day change. The BOSCC was designed to fix exactly that weakness.

If you run early-intervention sessions, add a five-minute play clip and score the BOSCC. You will get a sensitive, low-cost yardstick that shows whether your social-communication targets are really moving, even when language tests stay flat.