Abstract
PURPOSE:
To investigate the congruent validity of a structured interview protocol for assessing the preferences of seven children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
METHOD:
Using the structured interview protocol described by Green et al., parents were asked to provide a rank ordering of their child's preferred foods, drinks, toys and sensory stimuli. The resulting rank order was then compared to the results of a multiple-stimulus without replacement preference assessment by calculating the Spearman rank order correlation coefficients.
RESULTS:
The results revealed a high level of correspondence between the rank orderings of both assessments for four of the six participants for food and drink items and four of the seven participants for play items and sensory stimuli.
CONCLUSION:
Results support the use of the structured interview protocol to determine the preferences of children with ASD. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
