# When do you refer a child when using ASQ-3?

Mark E. Ting  
Nov 06, 2019

There are several instances where a professional may decide to refer a child after completion of ASQ-3. For the 5 developmental areas covered by ASQ-3, the tool uses cutoff scores to determine whether a child should be referred. The cutoff scores were developed through a standardization process and are set at 2 standard deviations below the mean. A child may need referral if his score is below the cutoff score in one of the 5 domains. A professional should also consider referral if answers to the Overall questions indicate concern, such as the items related to hearing, vision, or speech. And, in some cases, a professional may want to refer a child based on scores in the monitoring zone (gray area) for multiple developmental areas.

[Learn more about interpreting ASQ-3 scores and determining when to refer a child](/content/resource/factors-consider-interpreting-asq-results/index.html).

#### Tags

[ASQ-3(195)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/138) [referral(7)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/164) [overall question(3)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/212) [cutoff score(4)](https://support.agesandstages.com/kb/tag/295)