​Parenting Scale 

What it screens for: This screener gives insight into how you typically respond to discipline situations—like how often you give in, lose your temper, or stay consistent with rules. It’s not autism-specific but still offers helpful clues about your parenting habits.

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Click to take the assessment
 

• A measure of parenting in discipline situations for young children.
   

• This assessment was not specifically designed for neurodiverse children but may be helpful to identify helpful and unhelpful parenting styles. 
   

• Approximate time: 5-7 minutes to respond to 30 questions 
   

• Each question provides seven options, each representing different levels of a parenting aspect. Parents select the option that best reflects their parenting style over the past two months. 
   

• There are three factors on the Parenting Scale:

  • Laxness (LX)

  • Over-reactivity (OR), and

  • Hostility (HS).
    
    There are several items that are non-factor (NF).
     

• Understanding your score: 

  • All 30 items are scored on a 7 point scale, with low scores indicating functional parenting and high scores indicating dysfunctional parenting. ​
     

  • The recommended clinical cut-off scores are:

    • Mothers: Laxness 3.6, Over-reactivity 4.0, Hostility 2.4; and Total Score 3.2.
       

    • Fathers: Laxness 3.4, Over-reactivity 3.9, Hostility 3.5; and Total Score 3.2.