Curriculum Assessment for Individuals with ASD

Effective Education Practices

• Educators should prioritize:
  • Functionality of targeted skills within the curriculum.
  • Skills useful in the student's life.
  • Skills increasing independence and quality of life.
  • Skills enhancing competent performance.

Importance of Assessment

• Initial assessment: Understand the child's current skill level.
• Ongoing assessment: Track progress over time.
• Informs intervention plans, goal selection, and procedure choice.
• Determines current skill level and tracks ongoing progress.
• Helps determine and implement adjustments to the current intervention.
• Important for reporting, IEP goals, and insurance requirements.

Areas to Assess

• Characteristics of autism.
• Cognitive abilities.
• Adaptive behavior:
  • Daily living skills.
  • Social behavior.
  • Language and communication.
  • Gross and fine motor skills.
• Social skills.
• Self-help skills.
• Curricular targets.

Types of Assessments

• Standardized assessments.
• Formal assessments.
• Curriculum-based assessments.
• In-the-moment assessments.

Advantages of Formal/Standardized Assessments

• Provide an objective, global perspective.
• Norm-referenced: Compare the individual to typically developing peers of the same age.
• Evaluate social skills, adaptive behaviors, gross motor skills, communication skills, and daily living skills against age-related norms.
• Inform treatment decisions by targeting goals aligned with same-age peers.
• Often used in combination with curriculum assessments.

Cognitive and Adaptive Assessments

• Cognitive Assessments:
  • IQ tests and cognitive ability tests
  • Examples:
    • Stanford-Binet.
    • WPPSI (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence).
    • WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children).
    • DAS (Differential Ability Scales).
  • Provide an IQ score reflecting general cognitive ability compared to peers.
• Adaptive Assessments:
  • Assess various aspects of an individual's life.
  • Examples:
    • Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS).
    • Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS).
    • Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R).
    • Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC).

Autism Assessments

• Used for diagnosis:
  • ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule).
  • ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised).
  • GARS (Gilliam Autism Rating Scale).
  • CARS (Childhood Autism Rating Scale).

Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS-III)

• Assists teachers, parents, and clinicians in identifying autism and estimating its severity.
• For individuals aged 3-22.
• Items based on DSM-5 criteria, grouped into six subscales:
  • Restrictive and repetitive behaviors.
  • Social interactions.
  • Social communication.
  • Emotional responses.
  • Cognitive style.
  • Maladaptive speech.
• Provides a level of support needed corresponding to DSM-5 criteria (level 1, 2, or 3).

Language and Social Assessments

• Language Assessments:
  • Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT): Measures receptive language; the child points to a picture (e.g., "apple") from a field of four on a page.
  • Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT): Assesses expressive language; the child names a pictured object.
  • Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF).
• Aberrant Behavior Assessments:
  • Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC).
  • FAST (Functional Analysis Screening Tool).
  • Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF).
• Social Assessments:
  • Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS).
  • Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS).

Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS)

• Helpful for screening and developing social treatment, not for direct diagnosis.
• Uses a Likert rating scale (never, seldom, often, almost always).
• Versions: parent, teacher, and child (self-rating).
• Age range: 3-18+.
• Standardized and norm-referenced.
• Three main components:
  • Social behavior.
  • Problem behavior scale (assesses aberrant behaviors).
  • Academic competence (teacher form only).
• Social Domains:
  • Communication: Voice tone, turn-taking, responding to others.
  • Cooperation: Following rules, completing tasks, following directions.
  • Assertion: Standing up for themselves, questioning unfair rules.
  • Responsibility: Taking care of things, responsibility for actions, respect.
  • Empathy: Understanding how others feel, making others feel better.
  • Engagement: Joining activities, starting conversations, initiating interactions.
  • Self-control: Resolving disagreements calmly, staying calm when teased, taking criticism.

Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)

• Corresponds with DSM-5 autism spectrum diagnosis.
• Examines social motivation, social responsiveness, and stereotypic behavior related to social behavior.
• Uses a Likert rating scale.
• Different age ranges: preschool, school-age, and adult forms.
• Standardized and norm-referenced.
• Domains:
  • Social awareness: Ability to pick up on social cues.
  • Social cognition: Ability to interpret social cues.
  • Social communication: Ability to express themselves.
  • Social motivation: Motivation to engage in social behavior.
  • Restricted and repetitive behavior: Related to restricted interests and activities.

Curriculum Assessments

• VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program).
• ABLLS-R (Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills-Revised).
• Skills assessments.
• Curriculum books (e.g., Work in Progress, Crafting Connections).

RBT Role in Assessment

• Do not administer assessments without proper qualification or training.
• Basic Roles:
  • Help set up assessments.
  • Assist during reinforcement breaks.
  • Gather materials.
  • Answer questions based on knowledge of the client.