### Sometimes children refuse to answer questions or attempt activities. How do I determine if a child isn't displaying the skill because they can't or because they don't want to? Does it matter?

If a child will not answer the question or perform the action in an ASQ-3 item, you can skip that item on the questionnaire and adjust the scoring so the child isn’t penalized. You can only skip 2 items per area, though, and still score the section. Directions for using adjusted scoring is found on page 72 of the ASQ-3 User's Guide.

#### Tags

[ASQ-3(195)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/138) [administration(5)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/148) [scoring(19)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/149) [ommited item(1)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/150) [User's Guide(37)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/151)