Background: The aim of this project was to examine parent perceptions of potential communicative acts (PCAs) of children with, or at risk for, autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Participants were 6 males ranging from 17 to 30 months of age. Behaviours of interest were compared using parent report taken from the Inventory of Potential Communication Acts (IPCA) and videotaped observation collected during the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - Second Edition (ADOS-2 Toddler Module). PCA verification categories included facial expression, eye gaze, vocalisation, challenging behaviour, body movement, stereotypic movement, imitation, or symbolic forms. Results: On average, 83% of PCA categories coded from the ADOS-2 videotapes were also reported by parents using the IPCA questionnaire. For half of the participants, parent report added PCA information beyond what was collected during standard observation. Conclusions: Results suggest that parent report questionnaires are viewed as a complement to information obtained from standard observation.