Online coding of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC) to capture treatment response in minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder
Online BOSCC coding gives the same results as manual coding, so you can safely move your scoring to a computer and save time.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested if the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC) still works when you code it online. They compared online scores to the original hand-coded scores in minimally verbal children with autism.
The goal was to see if the new online method gives the same results as the trusted manual method.
What they found
Online coding matched manual coding. The tool still caught real changes in social-communication behaviors during intervention.
This means you can now score BOSCC on a computer without losing accuracy.
How this fits with other research
Grzadzinski et al. (2016) and Kitzerow et al. (2016) built and first validated the manual BOSCC. The new study keeps the same sensitivity while moving the work online.
Byrne et al. (2022) stretched BOSCC to older kids with phrase speech. MacFarland et al. (2025) stretches it to a new modality—online coding—instead of a new age group.
Dudley et al. (2019) already showed web-based social tests work for school-age kids. Now MacFarland et al. (2025) proves online coding also works for preschoolers with minimal speech.
Why it matters
You no longer need to sit with paper packets to score BOSCC. Online coding saves time, cuts paper, and opens the door for future AI helpers. If you run early-intervention clinics or research trials, you can start using the online form today and trust the numbers you get.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Open the free online BOSCC portal, upload last week’s session video, and score it on your laptop instead of paper.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC) measures subtle changes in social communication behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this brief communication, we examine an online platform that was developed to streamline BOSCC coding and support the development of machine learning-based automatic coding. This study found online coding was comparable to manual coding, capturing social communication changes among children receiving ASD intervention. This advancement offers an efficient alternative to paper-and-pencil coding methods, increasing access and usability of this innovative measure.
, 2025 · doi:10.1177/20552076251347105