Screening and Assessment

1. Screening and Assessment Unit IV, Exceptional Children Kaplan University Tristram Jones, Ph.D.

2. Identifying the At-risk: • Kids with known conditions related to developmental disability—hearing loss, Down syndrome, poor vision. • Those delayed in motor, cognitive, communicative, psychological or self-help skills • Those deemed at risk because of biological and/or environmental events in their lives.

3. How do we know who the at-risk are? • Hospital records • Family Interviews • Observation • Health screenings Any of which can lead to DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT by a multidisciplinary team

4. How well does identifying at-risk children actually predict disabilities? • Correlational studies prove: NOT VERY WELL!

5. SCREENING FOR AUTISM: There are complex types of AUTISM (PDDs) or Autism Spectrum Disorders. Here are some broad categories:_______________ • AUTISM-exhibiting severely disordered verbal and nonverbal behaviors and odd behavioral patterns.

6. Asperger’s syndrome: Children exhibit non-verbal language problems—no marked delays in lingual and cognitive development. (Are these just kids with AUTISM and high IQs? Is ASPERGERS the same as high-functioning ASPERGERS?) • PPD-NOS: Children with non-verbal language difficulties that do not meet DSM criteria for the above diagnoses This means screening is done by clinical psy and psychiatric pros…or the State 

7. Behavior Disorders There are so many that they often defy categorization, but we definitely think of: ANTI-SOCIAL and NON-COMPLIANT disorders, right? SCREENED by teachers or parents initially, then expertly checked with “SSBD” Standardized Screening for behavior disorders

8. SSBD is a “TRIPLE GATE” process • GATE ONE: Observation by teachers who determine external and internal behaviors. • The WORST THREE (!?) are selected for screening with standardized behavioral rating scales. • Highest scoring kids are observed by specialists in a number of different settings.

9. SCREENING FOR HEARING LOSS • Early diagnosis is essential for medical help to assist in avoiding language development problems and address the problem! Diagnosis by 3 is considered vital!

10. Diagnosis is Usually by Observation • Newborn screenings (increasingly used). • Parents • Pediatricians • Teachers

11. SCREENING FOR VISION: • Complicated by a lack of standardized instruments! • THE GOOD OLD SNELLEN CHART is as close to standard as it gets! 

12. Every state of the Union mandates school vision testing. • So the school nurse is the first line of defense! • A Snellen chart of images exists for pre-readers. • Ramifications in reading are tested at appropriate ages • Final diagnoses are done by optometrists, of course!

13. Did you know there is a deviance model for the deaf? • Dr Donald F. Moores has discussed a deviance model explaining that the deaf are somehow deficient psychologically! This is based on psychological assessments that demonstrate deaf children lie outside healthy psychological parameters– should we believe this?