Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Chapter Seven
Assessment and
Evaluation
A list of assessment tools for diagnosis
and programming is included
in the Resources section of this
document.
Assessment refers to the act of collecting data. The term should
not be confused with evaluation which refers to the systematic
process of not only collecting but also analyzing and interpreting
data.
This chapter focuses on the assessment and evaluation for
programming purposes of individuals with a diagnosed ASD.
Assessment
The Student Services team considers the student’s overall social,
academic, adaptive and communication strengths and needs by using
both informal and formal assessment tools. Informal assessment
tools, such as checklists and observation, consider the student’s
strengths and needs within the demands of the everyday environment.
The formal assessment tools consider how the student compares
with typically developing peers in the general population on skills
related to language, academics, intellectual ability, memory, etc.
The assessment should address the concerns of the academic and
non-academic environments.
What are the assessment tools used to assess the student with
ASD?
A combination of formal and informal assessment tools may be
used to assess the student with ASD, depending on the purpose of
assessment. For example, if the purpose is to determine programming
needs for academic functioning, the assessments might include formal
(e.g., intellectual, achievement, memory, language) as well as informal
tools (e.g., curriculum based, observation, review of file). If the
purpose is to determine programming needs for social functioning,
the assessments might include primarily informal tools such as
observation and checklists. Formal tests have specific criteria, which
are usually stated in the manual, regarding the administration and
the administrator’s qualifications.
There are at least three assessment tools which are commonly
used to assist in program development for individuals with ASD.
The Psycho-Educational Profile Revised (PEP-R), the Adult and
Adolescent Psycho-Educational Profile , and the Assessment of Basic
Language and Learning Skills (the ABLLS) are used to assess
adaptive behaviors of individuals with severe impairments to assist
in program development. The references for these three tools are
in the Resource section of this document.
Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders 81