ASSESSMENT

TOOLS AND IEP

• What did you observe?
• What are the parents trying to find out? Is it important?
• What do you think of the children’s inner worlds?
 Objectives

• To Identify the right assessment tools for devising appropriate interventions for
children with disability.
• To conduct assessment using developmentally appropriate tools.
Do you want to rebuild to what you had?
OR
Do you rebuild what you want?
 Developmental Delay
▪ Developmental Delay can be:
✓ Transient
✓ Permanent (Global delay)
✓ Specific (e.g., Hearing Impairment; Specific Learning Disability)
✓ Generalized (e.g., Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Autism
Spectrum Disorder)

Note: Use the term developmental delay till the specific cause is established/age 5 years
(DSM-5)
 Developmental Delay
▪ A term used to describe children who develop slowly during the first 5 years of
life.

▪ It could be any domain of child development (specific developmental delay) or

more than one or all domains of child development (global developmental delay).

▪ “Global developmental delay” means a significant delay in two or more

developmental domains.
 Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD)
▪ Heterogenous conditions characterized by developmental deficits in a variety of
domains, i.e., social, cognition, motor, language;
✓ Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
✓ Intellectual Disorders
✓ Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
✓ Communication Disorders
✓ Specific Learning Disorders
✓ Motor Disorders
✓ Tic Disorders
 Assessment
▪ A variety of methods including observation and interviews, to elicit information from
multiple sources including the child’s family and other significant individuals in the
child’s life.

▪ Obtaining information about the child’s skills in daily activities, routines, and
environments such as home, center, and community.

▪ Clinical reasoning in addition to assessment results to identify the child’s current

levels of functioning and to determine the child’s shortcomings and plan for
instruction.
Assessment Pathway
 Purpose of Assessment
▪ Screening

▪ Diagnosis

▪ Program planning and progress monitoring

▪ Accountability (child outcomes)

 Types of Assessment
▪ Developmental Assessments
▪ Screening tests
▪ Intelligence quotient tests
▪ Academic achievement tests
▪ Adaptive Behaviour Scales
▪ Behaviour Rating Scales
▪ Curriculum-Based Assessment
▪ End-of-Grade Alternate Assessments
 Evaluation
▪ Timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, conducted by qualified personnel

▪ Medical records may be used

✓ If they indicate any delay in the child’s level of functioning or otherwise meets the
criteria

▪ Not culturally or racially discriminatory

✓ Conducted in the native language of the child

▪ Child’s history
✓ Information from other sources to understand the full scope of a child’s unique
strengths and needs
✓ Medical, educational and other records
 Regulations

▪ To identify child’s unique strengths and needs and services

▪ Review the evaluation results
ASSESSMENT ▪ Personal observation of the child
▪ Child’s needs in each developmental area

PRESENT ▪ Physical (including vision, hearing, and physical health)

LEVELS OF ▪ Cognitive, communication, social or emotional, adaptive
FUNCTIONING ▪ Taken from the evaluation and assessments
Diagrammatic Representation of Assessment
Observation based assessments eg
HELP

Direct Assessment

Multiple ways of learning Formal Assessment

about children’s skills Assessment that is completed
and behaviours based on parent/caregiver/teacher
report

Information solicited from

knowledgeable adults
Informal Assessment

Observation (real time,video)

• Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses.

• No perfect method.
• Direct assessment does not necessarily produce more valid information than the other methods.
• Good assessment requires multiple sources of information
 Formal Assessment Tools
▪ Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC IV)
✓ 6-16 years 11 months
✓ Full Scale IQ (FSIQ)

▪ Malin’s Intelligence Scale for Indian Children (MISIC)

✓ 6-16 years 11 months
✓ Verbal, Performance and FSIQ

▪ Binet Kamat Test (BKT)

✓ 3-22 years
✓ Verbal & Performance

▪ Bhatia’s Battery of Performance Tests of Intelligence

✓ 11-16 years
✓ Performance IQ
 Formal Assessment Tools
▪ Gesell’s Drawing Test of Intelligence (GDT)
✓ 5-12 years
✓ Performance Test

▪ Seguin Form Board Test (SFBT)

✓ 4-20 years
✓ Psychomotor & visuo-perceptual abilities

▪ Developmental Screening Test (DST)

✓ 0-15 years
✓ Measures the developmental quotient (DQ)

▪ Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS)

✓ 2.3 months to 6.3 years
✓ Developmental status
 Formal Assessment Tools

▪ Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS)

✓ 0-15 years
✓ Measures Adaptive behaviour and yields social quotient (SQ)

▪ Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS)

✓ 0-90 years
✓ Measures Adaptive functioning and yields an Adaptive Behavior Composite
(ABC) score
 Formal Assessment Tools (Other NDD)
▪ Autism Spectrum Disorder
✓ Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism (ISAA)
✓ Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)
✓ Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R)

▪ Specific Learning Disabilities

✓ NIMHANS Index of Specific Learning Disabilities Battery
✓ Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability

▪ Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
✓ Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS)
 Formal Assessment Tools (Emotional &
Behavioural Issues)
▪ Children’s Depression Rating Scale (CDRS)
▪ Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI)
▪ Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED)
▪ Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI
Kid)
▪ Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
▪ Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)
 Clinical Interviewing
• Developmental history
• Parent & other relevant informants Interview/Report
• Real-time observation of the child/Video conferencing with the child
• Videos made by the parents (can request parents to capture specific activities
such as book-reading, playing with toys, interacting with an adult.)
 Screening for Disability (Children below 6)
▪ Checklist for Parents 0-1 year:
✓ https://www.nimhanschildproject.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Check-list-for-
parents-0-1-year.pdf

▪ Checklist for Parents 1-3 year:

✓ https://www.nimhanschildproject.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Check-list-for-
parents-1-3years.pdf

▪ Checklist for Parents 3-6 years:

✓ https://www.nimhanschildproject.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Check-list-for-
parents-3-6years.pdf

▪ Checklist for Parents 7-17 years :

✓ https://www.nimhanschildproject.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Child-
Development-Screening-Disability-7-to-17-yrs-1.pdf
 Screening for Disability (6+)
Developmental Functions/ Skills To High To Some To Low
Extent Extent Extent
Motor Skills

1 Can walk and run

2 Can lift and carry objects (such as school bag etc)

3 Can hold a pencil to scribble/ draw/ write

4 Can bathe, dress, brush teeth/ hair independently

5 Toilet trained
 Screening for Disability (6+)

Developmental Functions/ Skills To High To Some To Low

Extent Extent Extent
Speech and Language Skills

6 Able to speak full sentences of at least 6 to 7 words.

7 Able to describe a place/ person/ event.

(Ask child to describe his/ her school or teacher/friend
or festival/birthday).
 Screening for Disability (6+)
Developmental Functions/ Skills To High To Some To Low
Extent Extent Extent
Cognitive Skills

8. Comprehends and executes instructions given.

9. Participates in classroom activities.

10. Able to read and write (appropriate to age/ grade).

11. Academic performance has always been average/above

average.
12. Able to handle small amounts of money/ go shopping.
 Screening for Disability (6+)
Developmental Functions/ Skills To High To Some To Low
Extent Extent Extent

Social Skills

13 Able to distinguish between familiar people and strangers

and interact/ behave appropriately.
14 Able to understand social relationships—family versus
teachers/ friends, older people versus younger ones and
behave/ interact accordingly.
15 Understands social spaces school/ classroom/ street/
home and appropriate behavioural norms.
16 Plays/ interacts with peers in age-appropriate games.
 Screening for Disability (6+)
Developmental Functions/ Skills To High To Some To Low
Extent Extent Extent
Emotional Skills

17 Able to report feelings/ emotions. (‘I felt angry when…’)

18 Able to identify (through verbal and non-verbal cues) and

respond appropriately to other people’s emotions.

19 Able to tolerate frustration/ be comforted.

20 Is mostly calm and even-tempered.

Personnel Authorized to Conduct Assessments
▪ Clinical Psychologists and other RCI licensed professionals with experience in child
assessments including child psychologists, developmental psychologists, social case
workers, special educators and nurses.

▪ Teachers, Pediatricians, Home school teachers etc. are taught screening to facilitate
identification of signs and symptoms exhibited by the child so that they can be timely
referred to the experts for assessment and subsequent diagnosis.
INDIVIDUALISED
EDUCATION
PLAN
 What is an IEP?
▪ IEP is a document developed by a team of persons from the student’s
attending school system who have a direct relationship to helping the student
with special needs to be able to reach his full potential.

▪ It is used to better understand how and what a student needs to succeed in

his education.

▪ It is there to serve as a road map to address the student’s goals, progress,

and services (UNESCO, 2017).

▪ It should be reviewed annually and reevaluated every three years.

 Functions of an IEP
▪ Setting goals, services, programs, interventions necessary for the disabled
person, his family, his environment in the short and long term.

▪ Definition of responsibilities

▪ Making a schedule

▪ Safeguarding the rights, interests of the disabled person and quality of services
IEP Pyramid

Expected level of
performance

Annual Goal

Short term goal/Benchmark

Short term goal/Benchmark

Present level of performance

 IEP Stakeholders

IEP Stakeholders

SCHOOL HOME

School academic
coordinator Parents and siblings

Class teacher/home room

teacher Peers and Friends

School Counsellor
Case Vignette 1

Neha, a 12-year-old girl studying in the 7th

grade has been having reading and writing
difficulties. The school counselor along with
the other professionals constructed an IEP
to improve her spellings.

Look at the two different IEP Pyramids.

Which one do you think is better suited and
why?
 IEP Sample: Pyramid for Neha

I Evaluation and
II
Assessment

Annual goal- 6th grade level Expected level - 85% as per

of spellings in English class average

Short term goal-short sentences Annual goal - to score 75% in

using 6-7 letter words learnt in English final examinations
week 1 and 2 - week 3
Short term goal- 5 sentences as the
Short term goal- 6-7 letter words- week 2 teacher dictates

Short term goal- 5 letter words- week 1 Short term goal- write 5 sentences copying from
the board - week 1

Present level of performance - 5th Grade English spelling level Evaluation - 7th grade dictation test
 Why should we not use IEP II?
▪ It does not consider the present level of performance of the child.

▪ It begins by evaluating the child hereby putting them at a risk for being
compared.

▪ It does not follow a gradual procession of goal setting, rather abruptly sets
a goal without setting any Specific, measurable, agreed mutually &
achievable, relevant and time bound (S.M.A.R.T) milestones.

▪ It expects unrealistic outcomes hence makes the child vulnerable to

disappointment.
 Why IEP I is better suited?
▪ It initiates the process by assessing the child’s present level of
performance.

▪ It follows the protocol of setting S.M.A.R.T short term goals.

▪ It is molded as per the child’s pace and not the other way round.

▪ It does not take class averages into consideration and consider the child
unique in his/her own special abilities to perform as per his/her potential.

▪ It goes through a gradual procession of structural and functional steps.

Case Vignette 2

Harshit, an 8-year-old boy faces difficulty in

sitting at one place for long durations. He is
often found squirming and fidgeting in his seat.
He scores relatively well but the teachers keep
complaining that he distracts the class by
running around.

As an IEP Team, what short term goals will you

be addressing for Harshit in an IEP?