An Interview with Ajay Singh: The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)

The Ages and Stages Questionnaire is one of the most well researched and utilized instruments in use today in developmental centers, Head Start Facilities and kindergarten and first grade schools. In this interview Dr. Ajay Singh discusses the main components of the test and responds to questions as to its utilization.

Osmania University, Hyderabad, India then I came to know about the ASQ (Ages and Stages Questionnaire) during my theory and practicum classes, the ASQ which were developed and designed by Professor Diane Bricker and Professor Jane Squires at University of Oregon

2) What was your initial goal and objectives for this rating/developmental scale?
While working in the ASQ Research Team, I realized that it was developed and designed for up to the age of 66 months only. So, I informed Professor Squires that most of the children don't go to public schools before the age of 6 years in the US, and we need to have something for those population because most of them won't have access to such health questionnaires due to various reasons. So, Professor Jane Squires allowed me to design new age intervals for the ASQ, so I designed new age interval under her dynamic leadership with her Research Team at University of Oregon and later on she allowed me to use it for my PhD Dissertation.
The 6-Year ASQ will also evaluate five developmental domains: 5 communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and personal adaptive skills, for children from the ages of 66 months to 78 months . It's Gold Level Assessment Tool designed for Parents but Pediatricians, Health Workers, Social Workers, Home-Visitors, Early Intervention Professionals, Nurses, Special Educators, etc., also use it for assessment purpose and it's very accurate (Singh, Squires, Yeh, Heo, & Bian, 2016). It is highly recommended by pediatricians for early identification in the United States. The ASQ has been translated into several languages (e.g., Spanish, French, Dutch, Chinese, Macedonian, Norwegian, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, etc.) and the number of international studies on its psychometric properties with diverse cultural environments is increasing (e.g., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Ghana, India, Iran, Korea, Lebanon, Netherland, Norway, Republic of Macedonia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey; Singh, Yeh, & Blanchard, 2017).

4) Who else was involved in its development?
The 6-Year ASQ was initially studied in four phases; the first phase included 18 to 26 test items per domain. Initially test items were randomly arranged (i.e., not placed in chronological order) to decrease any possibilities of order effect and to address the item functioning questions (e.g., item difficulty test items which estimate the difficulty of each test item based on the participants' ability to correctly respond to each test item). In the second phase, test items per domain were selected by using Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis and were investigated for technical adequacy (e.g., reliability) and item functioning (e.g., item difficulty).
In the third phase, test items and item difficulty were evaluated by a panel of 13 experts with previous work experience with young children in special education, pre-school, early childhood, or worked as a school psychologist, principal, professor, assistant professor, researcher, K-12 teacher, service coordinator, speech therapist, social worker, occupational therapist and physical therapist. The experts were academicians/professionals with relevant experiences between 2 and 25 years in their expertise areas. The range of experiences provided a wide and relevant perspective on the appropriateness and validity of the items to be included. In the fourth and final phase, 622 test items per domain for a total 30 test items were included.

5) How frequently is it being used and for what purposes?
It should be used every 3 months to monitor, if there is any delay in the following areas; gross motor, fine motor, communication, problem-solving, and personal-social skills.