Social validation of the New England Center For Children--Core Skills Assessment.
Parents and pros agree the 47 NECC-CSA skills are must-haves—use them as your autism curriculum backbone.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked 97 parents and 77 professionals to rate 47 skills from the NECC-Core Skills Assessment. Each person said how important, how typical, and how acceptable each skill is for kids with autism.
They used a short online survey. The goal was to see if everyday people think these 47 skills really matter.
What they found
Both groups gave the 47 skills top marks. They called them "foundational" more often than any other skills listed.
High scores on all three scales show the tool has social validity. In plain words, the community agrees the checklist tracks the right things.
How this fits with other research
Menezes et al. (2021) looked at 18 school studies and found social-skills programs work best when they target the same core areas the NECC-CSA lists. The survey lines up with what those intervention studies already tested.
Tajik-Parvinchi et al. (2023) validated the ACSF:SC, a parent report on social communication. Both papers show parents can give trustworthy input when shaping autism tools. The NECC-CSA adds a focus on daily living and learner-readiness skills, not just talk.
KJackson et al. (2025) asked caregivers to name child strengths and built a new strengths checklist. Their method mirrors the NECC-CSA survey, but the content differs: KA lists talents like music and memory, while NECC-CSA lists must-have skills like imitation and waiting. Using both together gives a fuller picture.
Why it matters
You now have a short, community-endorsed skill list that parents and teachers already value. Plug the 47 NECC-CSA items into your next assessment or treatment plan. Start with the top five the family marks "most important" and build lessons around them. This quick step boosts buy-in and keeps programming tight.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We investigated the social validity of the NECC Core Skills Assessment (NECC-CSA) with parents and professionals as participants. The NECC-CSA is a measurement tool consisting of direct and indirect measures of skills important to all individuals with autism, across the lifespan. Participants (N = 245) were provided with a list of 66 skills, 47 of which were Core Skills from the NECC-CSA, and were asked to indicate which items they considered to be foundational. Participants endorsed items from the NECC-CSA as foundational skills, more than they endorsed the other items. Differences between parents and professionals are described and detailed with respect to individual assessment items. The NECC-CSA consists of socially validated skills that can be taken as a starting point for programs of instruction for individuals with ASDs.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2014 · doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1852-5