The Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery for Children with Autism: A New Tool for the Assessment of Cognitive and Social Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery (SCEB) is a new instrument for the psychological evaluation of children with autism. The battery consists of 16 scales that measure different cognitive and socioemotional functions. This study reports the results of a reliability analysis and some elements of validation. Analyses are based on the observed performance of 100 children with autism and a convenience sample of 35 normal children. Validation is based on the examination of the structure of the relations between the 16 scale scores of the SCEB, their relations with other measurements, the correspondence between the theoretical developmental ages, and the observed chronological ages and the SCEB's sensitivity to specific disorders. The results show that this new instrument is useful and relevant for the psychological assessment of children with autism.