A Preliminary Study of the Validation for Children’s Social Communication Scale for Children Aged 6-7 Years

Abstract

Objectives: Despite the classification of various children showing deficiencies in social communication that are distinct from autism spectrum disorder, interest in social communication has not increased. However, the development of social communication competence acts as an important indicator for adapting well to school life after entering elementary school. The purpose of this study was to develop a social communication scale regarding child development indicators required in clinical practice.Methods: In phase 1 of this study, a preliminary social communication scale (SCS) was conducted by modifying evaluation items that measure social cognition, pragmatic language, and social skills. Using the results from the SCS, an item analysis was conducted. In phase 2 of this study, an expert validity test was conducted to complete the final SCS.Results: As a result of item analysis, 51 items of the SCS were extracted. The SCS consisted of 16 questions in the social cognition area, 24 questions in the conversational language area, and 11 questions in the social technology area.Conclusion: The SCS is comprised of questions that can evaluate the social communication of children preparing for to enter school, and early school-age children. It is hoped that the results of this preliminary study contribute to the activation of social communication research and can help provide directions for improving children’s social communication in clinical practice.