What is a childhood autism rating scale (CARS) and how will it be used with my child?

Great, so you are considering behaviour therapy for your child/young person with autism. Your behaviour therapy team has mentioned that they will be using the childhood autism rating scale and you’d like to know what it is. 

At HeadStart we use a childhood autism rating scale to rate a child's autism symptoms after they've received a diagnosis. The CARS assessment is designed to provide a rating of a child's behaviour and development in various domains, including communication, social interaction, repetitive behaviours, and sensory sensitivities. Based on the information from the assessment, we can form a specific intervention plan and develop a good understanding of your child’s needs and what strategies would be best suited to target specific behaviours, set appropriate goals and measure progress over time. For example, based on the assessment that highlights limited verbal communication skills, goals related to expressive language development may include: ‘Increase the use of two-word phrases during play and daily routines within six months’.

The following are the characteristics that are evaluated via the CARS…

  • Relationship to people

  • Emotional response

  • Visual response

  • Listening response

  • Fear and nervousness

  • Body use

  • Object use

  • Adaptation to change

  • Imitation

  • Verbal communication

  • Non-verbal communication

  • Activity level

  • Taste-smell-touch response and use

  • Level and consistency of intellectual response

  • General impressions

Some organisations use this scale to diagnose children/young people with autism.  Total scores can range from 15 to 60. Scores below 30 will often indicate that the child/ young person is in the ‘no autism’ range, scores between 30 and 36.5 indicate mild to moderate autism, and scores from 37 to 60 indicate severe autism.

We now offer diagnosis as a service at HeadStart so if you have any questions about diagnosis please do get in touch by emailing our admin assistant at shanay.nj@headstartaba.org 



At HeadStart we understand the importance of providing information in accessible formats to meet the diverse needs of our service users. We can provide information in different forms for example in another language, large print, easy-read materials, and technologies such as text-to-speech or audio. To request information in another format, contact us by phone or email. Shanay.nj@headstartaba.org or mobile 07988860033.

Gareth Cobb