ABLLS-R, AFLS, VBMAPP, ESDM, PEAK!?!? CHOOSING THE RIGHT ASSESSMENT FOR YOUR LEARNER WITH AUTISM Session 1

MEGAN MILLER, PHD, BCBA-D Author

08/17/2021 Added

3012 Plays

Description

ABLLS-R, AFLS, VBMAPP, ESDM, PEAK!?!? CHOOSING THE RIGHT ASSESSMENT FOR YOUR LEARNER WITH AUTISM

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:01.970]Hi everyone, I am Dr. Megan Miller,
[00:00:04.410]and I'm really looking forward
[00:00:05.830]to this three-part webinar series that I'm doing for you
[00:00:09.770]on Choosing The Right Assessment for Your Learner.
[00:00:12.690]This is Session One,
[00:00:13.900]where we'll be talking about The Assessment Process.
[00:00:16.660]There's also Session Two,
[00:00:18.260]where we'll look at how to apply what you're learning
[00:00:20.400]with the assessment process.
[00:00:22.110]And session three, we will dive in a little bit deeper
[00:00:25.090]on looking at how to assess early learners,
[00:00:28.700]ages three to five.
[00:00:31.480]So in this session, we're going to go over summary
[00:00:34.490]of assessments and the assessment process,
[00:00:38.120]and then we'll look at some different learner profiles
[00:00:40.880]and how those profiles can potentially influence,
[00:00:44.540]the assessments you might use.
[00:00:48.200]So here are the different types of assessment,
[00:00:51.950]at least in behavior analysis.
[00:00:53.920]So first, we have skill assessment,
[00:00:56.310]where we're looking at identifying strengths and deficits
[00:00:59.920]for the learners that we're serving.
[00:01:02.340]And for this,
[00:01:03.173]you can use commercially available assessments,
[00:01:05.310]there's a whole range of them nowadays
[00:01:07.440]and that was in the title slide with the ABLLS,
[00:01:10.920]VB-MAPP, AFLS, IGLR, PEAK, ESDM,
[00:01:14.700]there's so many different options.
[00:01:16.620]However, we shouldn't rely solely on these.
[00:01:21.310]We also, when we talk about assessment
[00:01:23.080]and behavior analysis, frequently do preference assessments,
[00:01:26.280]where we identify items that could function as reinforcers.
[00:01:29.800]And of course, there's functional behavioral assessment,
[00:01:32.060]where we determine the function of challenging behavior.
[00:01:34.840]This particular series is focused on skill assessment,
[00:01:38.090]so we won't really be talking about preference assessment
[00:01:40.430]or functional behavior assessment.
[00:01:44.230]When we look at behavior analytic assessment,
[00:01:46.810]I think it's important to ask, what did behavior analysts
[00:01:50.200]or teachers or any other related service providers do
[00:01:53.900]before assessments were commercially available?
[00:01:56.180]So before there were books and materials that you could buy
[00:01:58.970]to conduct assessments with your clients or your students,
[00:02:02.560]what did people do to develop their programming?
[00:02:07.710]Well, most of us, and I'm not,
[00:02:11.000]I haven't been in the field for a super long time,
[00:02:13.870]but it has been almost 20 years at this point.
[00:02:16.390]And when I first started,
[00:02:18.220]there was, the ABLLS was just coming out,
[00:02:21.470]there wasn't a whole lot out there.
[00:02:23.100]And well, we just saw our learners
[00:02:25.920]and looked at how they compared to typical development
[00:02:30.650]and we figured out our programs based off of that.
[00:02:34.040]It's important when we're looking
[00:02:35.260]at behavior analytic assessment,
[00:02:37.410]that we're not losing sight of the things listed here,
[00:02:40.160]and I'm going to explain them in detail.
[00:02:42.680]I do wanna let you know,
[00:02:43.850]most of the things I have listed here,
[00:02:45.710]are not typically assessed in the commercial assessments
[00:02:49.240]that are currently available.
[00:02:51.090]So, if we're only using,
[00:02:52.770]the commercially available assessments
[00:02:54.100]and we're getting stuck to those,
[00:02:55.790]we lose sight of some of these other things.
[00:02:58.140]So for example, learning to learn skills,
[00:03:01.390]aren't typically thoroughly assessed
[00:03:03.760]within the different materials available to us,
[00:03:06.650]even barriers to learning.
[00:03:07.990]The VB-MAPP does have a barrier section,
[00:03:10.430]but it doesn't necessarily adequately get at some
[00:03:13.810]of the barriers that could interfere
[00:03:15.350]for each individual child.
[00:03:16.830]You know, the reason we are providing services,
[00:03:20.120]whether it's in schools or homes to the learners we serve,
[00:03:23.490]is because they're not picking up things
[00:03:25.710]from the natural environment like their peers.
[00:03:28.400]We have to figure out why that is.
[00:03:30.060]They're not just not learning it,
[00:03:31.780]why are they not learning it?
[00:03:33.470]And a lot of the assessments don't touch on that,
[00:03:36.120]they just look at, here's some skills you could teach.
[00:03:39.550]Assessing component and composite skills.
[00:03:41.990]So with this, what we're looking at is,
[00:03:45.100]when we have a composite skill that's a bigger skill,
[00:03:49.110]how fluent are the component skills,
[00:03:51.600]the smaller skills that make up that composite skill?
[00:03:54.610]So for example with writing,
[00:03:56.580]you might have a learner where you're trying
[00:03:58.200]to get them to write their name,
[00:03:59.710]there is a lot of component skills that go into writing
[00:04:02.550]before we could expect them to write their name,
[00:04:04.740]and breaking it all the way down to the lowest level
[00:04:06.930]of just like a pincer grip.
[00:04:08.980]How well can they do this with their fingers
[00:04:11.440]without even a pencil involved?
[00:04:12.790]And then how well can they grip a pencil?
[00:04:14.250]What is their pressure like?
[00:04:15.830]How well can they do just basic strokes up and down
[00:04:18.760]and side to side and diagonally?
[00:04:20.650]A lot of times we don't assess those smaller skills,
[00:04:24.270]and that's actually what's holding the learner back.
[00:04:26.260]Those skills aren't effortless,
[00:04:28.140]so the more we're trying to teach the bigger scale,
[00:04:29.670]we have difficulty.
[00:04:31.650]Within that, we also need to make sure,
[00:04:33.280]we're assessing fluency.
[00:04:34.460]Before we move on to something else,
[00:04:36.710]how well is the learner performing the skills
[00:04:39.420]that we're teaching?
[00:04:40.710]If it's not effortless for them,
[00:04:42.870]if it's taking them a lot of effort
[00:04:44.850]or they're sometimes responding correctly
[00:04:46.660]and sometimes they're not, or they respond well
[00:04:49.010]and then if they don't see it for a few days,
[00:04:51.190]they stop responding,
[00:04:52.840]then that means we shouldn't be moving on,
[00:04:55.110]we should be continuing to work on that skill.
[00:04:57.740]And then lastly, assessing socially valid skills
[00:05:01.110]that aren't on your assessments.
[00:05:02.570]So again, a lot of the commercially available assessments,
[00:05:05.500]there're skills that need to be addressed,
[00:05:08.890]such as teaching self-advocacy,
[00:05:11.260]that aren't on the commercially available assessments.
[00:05:13.670]But when you look at the skills,
[00:05:15.650]especially relating to autism
[00:05:17.960]that are part of the diagnosis
[00:05:19.410]that you would want to work with your students,
[00:05:22.400]they may have a value in wanting to learn,
[00:05:25.350]aren't going to be on your assessments that you're using.
[00:05:27.700]So it's important to look at, you know,
[00:05:29.050]what's meaningful to this particular student,
[00:05:31.950]what are the things they want to learn,
[00:05:33.780]what are their goals,
[00:05:34.760]and figure out how you can assess those
[00:05:37.060]and develop your interventions around that as well.
[00:05:41.950]When we think about assessment sources,
[00:05:43.940]a lot of people will reference,
[00:05:45.810]the commercially available assessments,
[00:05:47.380]there's other options as well though.
[00:05:50.060]So like I mentioned,
[00:05:50.893]we have our commercially available,
[00:05:52.680]behavior analytic assessments,
[00:05:54.030]and we will dive in on those deeper in this webinar.
[00:05:57.530]There's also diagnostic assessments specific
[00:05:59.870]to the population served.
[00:06:01.210]So for example, with autism, there's the ADOS,
[00:06:05.240]and there's a newer assessment
[00:06:07.070]that's still being researched called the (indistinct).
[00:06:09.800]And if you were familiar with those
[00:06:12.100]and you know what you're looking for
[00:06:13.450]within those assessments,
[00:06:15.940]even though it's to just obtain a diagnosis,
[00:06:18.630]you can use that to help guide,
[00:06:21.320]where they're performing on those assessments
[00:06:23.450]with what their IEP goals might need to be.
[00:06:26.500]Developmental assessments specific
[00:06:27.630]to the age group being served,
[00:06:30.260]diagnostic domains from the DSM-5,
[00:06:33.810]the CDC skills list for different ages,
[00:06:37.560]standardized adaptive and behavioral assessments,
[00:06:41.030]Common Core or other academic skills list,
[00:06:43.370]are obviously very important in the school system.
[00:06:46.450]Observing "typically" developing individuals.
[00:06:49.490]I put typically in quotes because what even is that,
[00:06:52.840]but there is definitely, you know, sort of set of students
[00:06:58.490]that make up what people are expecting to see,
[00:07:00.970]so you can observe them to get some ideas.
[00:07:04.670]Observing high performers.
[00:07:06.190]So within the classroom
[00:07:07.840]or whatever setting you're working in,
[00:07:09.210]the people that are excelling,
[00:07:10.640]what is it that they're doing differently
[00:07:12.750]that they excel and perform so well?
[00:07:16.020]And of course there could be others.
[00:07:17.460]These are the main ones that I use
[00:07:19.150]when I'm looking at my assessment process.
[00:07:23.200]So before we dive in on the different assessments
[00:07:26.150]that are available to us as behavior analysts
[00:07:29.930]and special educators, I wanted to go over a little bit,
[00:07:33.090]how I conduct my assessment process.
[00:07:36.390]These are just some steps to keep in mind.
[00:07:38.250]I can't tell you the number of times,
[00:07:40.780]I've been training and supervising people
[00:07:42.650]and they tell me they have a new student or a new client,
[00:07:45.510]and they want to know what assessment to use.
[00:07:47.577]"I'm seeing a new student tomorrow,
[00:07:49.270]what should I use, the VB-MAPP, the ABLLS?"
[00:07:51.590]And I'm like, "I don't know." (laughs)
[00:07:54.420]We haven't met this child yet, we can't just say,
[00:07:56.637]"oh, they're five, I'm going to use the ABLLS with them."
[00:07:59.800]We need to have more information than that.
[00:08:02.120]So these are the steps that I train people to follow
[00:08:04.930]when they're looking at assessing a new learner.
[00:08:07.690]First, gather background information from the team.
[00:08:10.240]So, talk to the parents, talk to previous teachers,
[00:08:13.210]look at their file, and just get an idea
[00:08:15.390]of the types of things they're working on
[00:08:17.030]and the areas where they're may be struggling,
[00:08:20.130]the areas where they've excelled, et cetera.
[00:08:22.900]Then, complete a direct observation.
[00:08:25.350]And so, this might mean
[00:08:26.400]like the first couple of days of school,
[00:08:28.550]sometimes in the school setting,
[00:08:30.010]they even have options to do some observations
[00:08:34.200]with the learner before they start school,
[00:08:35.820]so if you have that option, definitely take advantage of it.
[00:08:39.000]But when you're doing your direct observation,
[00:08:40.800]it could even be only five or 10 minutes long.
[00:08:42.930]We're gonna practice this with some videos in Session Two.
[00:08:47.110]You can learn a lot in just a few minutes
[00:08:49.220]of observing a learner.
[00:08:51.020]So these are the things I attend to
[00:08:52.750]when I'm first meeting a child.
[00:08:54.610]The first area is connection.
[00:08:56.730]Do they notice others in their environment?
[00:08:59.120]Do they initiate interaction with others?
[00:09:01.480]How do they respond to attempts to engage?
[00:09:04.000]And how do they respond to requests from others
[00:09:05.930]to complete demands and follow the routine?
[00:09:08.530]If my answers to these are all, it's not happening,
[00:09:12.340]they're not really connecting, they're pretty oblivious,
[00:09:14.700]or maybe it's even aversive to have people around them,
[00:09:18.050]then I know that any skills-based assessment,
[00:09:20.970]is going to be difficult
[00:09:22.020]and this is the area I need to primarily focus on.
[00:09:25.220]Communication, I look at,
[00:09:26.710]are they using gaze shifts to communicate?
[00:09:28.810]So, are they looking at something,
[00:09:30.400]and then looking at the adults in the environment
[00:09:34.560]or other, their peers and things like that?
[00:09:36.300]And even if they're not vocally communicating,
[00:09:38.730]are they using some type of gaze shifting to indicate,
[00:09:42.370]I like this thing or I don't like this thing, in that way.
[00:09:46.320]Are they using gestures to communicate?
[00:09:48.150]Are they using body positioning or movement,
[00:09:50.560]moving closer to things or further from things,
[00:09:52.530]turning away, turning towards, et cetera?
[00:09:54.950]Are they using people as tools to communicate?
[00:09:57.880]Are they using sounds to communicate?
[00:10:00.380]What is the communication output, signs, pictures,
[00:10:03.260]vocal words, and do they value communication partners?
[00:10:06.450]Again, depending on the answers to these questions,
[00:10:08.760]if a lot of these things aren't happening,
[00:10:10.970]then I know, and my initial skills assessment
[00:10:14.190]and my initial intervention with the learner,
[00:10:15.970]I'm going to need to focus heavily in this area,
[00:10:18.830]especially on building up that intent to communicate
[00:10:22.220]and that value of a communication partner.
[00:10:24.730]And then lastly, I look at developmental performance.
[00:10:27.660]If the connection is strong enough, where I can,
[00:10:30.900]you know, engage in some skills-based assessment,
[00:10:33.470]I'll present a few simple questions,
[00:10:35.640]based on the learners age and developmental level
[00:10:38.020]and note how they respond to those.
[00:10:41.810]If you're working with a learner
[00:10:43.760]and do not have a strong trusting connection
[00:10:46.260]and teaching relationship,
[00:10:47.790]you may need to use demand fading
[00:10:49.590]and develop a stronger teaching relationship prior
[00:10:51.940]to writing your skill acquisition programs,
[00:10:54.820]and then based on commonly used,
[00:10:57.260]behavior analytic assessments.
[00:10:59.280]This is a big, important area.
[00:11:01.410]A lot of times people just wanna jump right in
[00:11:03.490]and start their assessment process
[00:11:05.070]and get moving with the different IEP goals
[00:11:07.960]that they wanna work on.
[00:11:09.200]But if you don't have that trusting relationship
[00:11:11.310]with your learner,
[00:11:12.340]you're not going to make as much progress.
[00:11:14.020]And I have a whole entire two-hour webinar on this
[00:11:18.160]that's separate that we won't have time to go through,
[00:11:20.300]but you will see a little bit of examples
[00:11:22.430]when we go through Session Two.
[00:11:25.400]Take notes on the learner's performance,
[00:11:27.960]the strength of the teaching relationship,
[00:11:29.720]their preference for items, and of course ABC data
[00:11:32.740]on any behaviors of concern.
[00:11:34.510]Some people are nervous that
[00:11:36.850]if they're not using a commercially-based assessment
[00:11:39.830]and taking all sorts of data on that,
[00:11:41.323]that they don't have data
[00:11:42.700]and they won't be able to track their progress.
[00:11:44.900]But the notes that you take just on, you know,
[00:11:47.350]approaches to you, responses to you,
[00:11:50.240]all of those different interaction things,
[00:11:52.260]can be used as baseline data.
[00:11:54.290]You don't have to necessarily, as long as you document
[00:11:58.110]that that's what you're working on and why,
[00:12:00.030]you don't necessarily need to go through an entire,
[00:12:02.830]you know, booklet of skills,
[00:12:04.700]just to mark that they're not present
[00:12:06.420]because it's not even accurate necessarily
[00:12:08.370]if they're not connected with you
[00:12:09.800]and you don't have a strong teaching relationship.
[00:12:12.280]Additionally, when you're first getting
[00:12:14.620]to know your students,
[00:12:15.650]make sure you're playing with them a lot
[00:12:17.410]and trying to figure out what they prefer to do.
[00:12:19.700]This is going to look different based on the age.
[00:12:21.970]So if you're working with younger learners,
[00:12:23.670]it's a lot easier to just engage in like true play.
[00:12:26.610]And if you're working with older learners,
[00:12:28.390]it's going to look more, you know,
[00:12:30.610]based on whatever age they are,
[00:12:32.440]it might be connecting with them
[00:12:34.810]over something they're doing on the iPad
[00:12:36.540]or drawing or some topic they like to talk about,
[00:12:39.540]so it's going to look different depending on the age.
[00:12:42.160]But these, this framework, these steps that are listed here,
[00:12:45.060]would apply no matter what age you're talking about.
[00:12:47.570]So first following the learners lead, just observing them,
[00:12:50.980]seeing what they're doing and just following along.
[00:12:53.710]Imitating the learner,
[00:12:54.760]so imitating whatever they're doing.
[00:12:56.500]For younger learners, that might be, you know,
[00:12:58.680]pushing a car, blowing bubbles.
[00:13:01.020]For older learners, it might be playing a game on the iPad,
[00:13:03.820]drawing, talking about some topic, et cetera.
[00:13:07.850]When you're observing the learner, be available to them.
[00:13:10.220]You're not placing demands,
[00:13:11.510]you're not there to get them to do things,
[00:13:13.950]you're just really observing and available
[00:13:16.230]and just to make their life better.
[00:13:18.100]And create fun activities.
[00:13:19.550]Try out different things
[00:13:20.660]that children the age that you're with typically like,
[00:13:23.840]and don't do it in their face or anything just nearby
[00:13:26.870]and see what they indicate liking.
[00:13:28.550]What do they come over to you for?
[00:13:29.880]What do they want to engage with?
[00:13:35.150]It's also important to determine
[00:13:36.610]if there are any challenging behaviors
[00:13:38.390]that will interfere with formal training.
[00:13:40.890]So, if you have a weak teaching relationship or tantrums,
[00:13:45.110]if the learner does not readily follow directions,
[00:13:47.660]demonstrates difficulty navigating removal
[00:13:49.830]of preferred items, waiting, being told no, et cetera,
[00:13:53.320]you will need to focus your programming heavily
[00:13:55.720]on reducing these issues first.
[00:13:57.630]And this can be done with demand fading,
[00:13:59.460]which I also have a separate webinar on,
[00:14:01.370]that goes over how to do demand fading,
[00:14:03.870]teaching tolerance, coping,
[00:14:05.330]and self-advocacy skills for removal of items,
[00:14:08.010]waiting, being told no and for tantrums to gain access,
[00:14:12.510]and by increasing functional communication
[00:14:14.660]and emotional regulation skills.
[00:14:16.600]So that's a lot of information,
[00:14:18.650]and these are all things that aren't typically trained.
[00:14:20.940]Again, I have webinars on each of these.
[00:14:23.130]So if you need more information,
[00:14:24.400]just feel free to send me an email,
[00:14:26.120]my email's at the end of this webinar
[00:14:27.730]and I can go over this information with you
[00:14:30.690]and stair some additional resources.
[00:14:32.940]It's also important to keep in mind
[00:14:35.080]if a learner is engaging in challenging behavior,
[00:14:37.630]determine plans that include the three steps to compassion.
[00:14:40.870]So this is a big focus of mine
[00:14:43.000]when I train people on addressing challenging behavior,
[00:14:46.040]your assessments need to be comprehensive
[00:14:48.130]so you're not just focusing on function.
[00:14:50.630]You need to the big four predictors
[00:14:53.400]of success relating to challenging behavior.
[00:14:57.000]And the big four are looking at,
[00:15:00.440]how the learner gains attention,
[00:15:03.160]how the learner engages in leisure activities,
[00:15:07.780]how they communicate, and how they tolerate
[00:15:11.560]and accommodate and navigate adverse situations.
[00:15:15.120]And that's from an article in Behavior Analysis and Practice
[00:15:18.690]by a (indistinct) Rosales in 2018.
[00:15:22.010]And then we always use shaping.
[00:15:24.760]Those are our three steps to compassion
[00:15:26.450]when we're addressing challenging behavior
[00:15:28.630]and developing our interventions.
[00:15:30.330]So, when you look at a learner who might be having,
[00:15:33.550]such a high rate of challenging behavior
[00:15:35.280]that it's really difficult
[00:15:36.450]to do a skills-based assessment with them,
[00:15:39.410]you may need to start with a general plan
[00:15:41.750]to help keep them successful
[00:15:44.080]and then individualize for your learner
[00:15:46.030]once you start implementing the plan.
[00:15:48.130]Because obviously when you have students,
[00:15:50.120]who first start in your classroom,
[00:15:52.330]you're not necessarily going
[00:15:53.370]to know what's best for them right away,
[00:15:55.210]but you can have a general framework
[00:15:56.710]that you're working off of
[00:15:57.690]that's supportive and humane and ethical for them,
[00:16:00.410]and then make it more specific
[00:16:02.190]as you get to know them better.
[00:16:06.090]So these are some of the commercially available assessments.
[00:16:08.810]This is just some of them, not all of them,
[00:16:11.440]but these are common popular ones
[00:16:13.340]and we're going to go through these today.
[00:16:15.510]So we have the ABLLS, VB-MAPP, PEAK,
[00:16:17.500]ESDM, AFLS, the EFL, the IGLR.
[00:16:21.063]It's an alphabet soup,
[00:16:22.360]don't worry I'll explain what each one is.
[00:16:24.820]We have social skills assessments,
[00:16:26.510]direct instruction programs,
[00:16:28.060]and then we're not going to talk about these today,
[00:16:30.300]but I wanna make sure we don't miss
[00:16:32.270]that there are developmental behavioral
[00:16:34.010]and diagnostic assessments that can and should be used
[00:16:37.000]when developing your interventions.
[00:16:39.030]So the Vineland would be an example
[00:16:41.010]of a behavioral adaptive assessment,
[00:16:44.170]the ADOS is an example of a diagnostic assessment,
[00:16:46.930]and Mullen and LEAP are both examples
[00:16:48.750]of developmental assessments.
[00:16:50.620]So we're gonna go through each of the other assessments
[00:16:53.630]and just explain what they are.
[00:16:56.150]I know a lot of you are already familiar with most of these,
[00:16:58.690]but just to make sure we're all on the same page,
[00:17:00.940]the ABLLS-R was authored by Dr. Partington,
[00:17:04.500]the focus is skills taught across verbal operants
[00:17:07.970]for typically developing skills through age six.
[00:17:11.140]And this is the description on their website:
[00:17:13.297]"The ABLLS-R provides a comprehensive review of 544 skills
[00:17:17.620]from 25 skill areas including language, social interaction,
[00:17:20.950]self-help, academic and motor skills
[00:17:23.410]that most typically developing children acquire prior
[00:17:25.790]to entering kindergarten."
[00:17:27.640]So, it's important to note that this is most appropriate
[00:17:31.210]for learners around that three to five-year-old range.
[00:17:35.300]If you have students who are eight, nine and older,
[00:17:38.890]and they don't have the skills present in the ABLLS,
[00:17:42.207]it doesn't necessarily mean you should use the ABLLS
[00:17:44.610]because the ABLLS is trying to target younger skills.
[00:17:47.770]If that's the case,
[00:17:48.670]you would probably use the AFLS or the EFL.
[00:17:54.200]The VB-MAPP was authored by Dr. Sundberg,
[00:17:57.320]and the focus is skills taught across verbal operants
[00:17:59.950]for typically developing skills through age four.
[00:18:02.517]"The VB-MAPP is a criterion-referenced assessment tool,
[00:18:05.470]curriculum guide, and skill tracking systems
[00:18:08.040]that is designed for children with autism
[00:18:09.820]and other individuals who demonstrate language delays,"
[00:18:12.100]that's the explanation from their website.
[00:18:14.560]Again, same thing here the skills assess within this,
[00:18:18.790]are for the ages around like four or five years old,
[00:18:22.130]I mean, four technically is where it taps out.
[00:18:24.440]So if you have learners who are older,
[00:18:26.530]even if they're not performing the skills listed in here,
[00:18:29.590]you should pick a different assessment to use,
[00:18:31.670]based on that age difference.
[00:18:36.190]PEAK is from Dr. Mark Dixon,
[00:18:39.310]and the focus is on teaching basic
[00:18:41.690]and advanced language skills from age 0 to 16.
[00:18:45.570]There's four different books,
[00:18:46.890]and they're all meant to work together.
[00:18:48.920]So it's not like you do the direct book
[00:18:50.710]and then generalization and then equivalents
[00:18:52.400]and then transformation,
[00:18:53.580]all four should be operating at the same time.
[00:18:56.567]"Direct training, is focused
[00:18:59.140]on basic foundational learning abilities,
[00:19:01.300]such as eye contact, requesting items,
[00:19:03.340]labeling items, answering WH questions,
[00:19:05.960]early concept formation, and elementary social skills.
[00:19:08.980]Generalization is heavily Common Core standard-driven
[00:19:11.790]and designed to take the basic concepts
[00:19:13.610]across context stimuli and people.
[00:19:15.840]This module is designed to build a generalized repertoire
[00:19:18.370]and reduce or eliminate memorized scripting learning
[00:19:21.030]often seen in other approaches.
[00:19:23.030]Equivalence is designed to teach concept formation
[00:19:25.530]and perceptual behavior.
[00:19:27.120]This module explores the multisensory experiences
[00:19:29.810]that often occur when we experience the world around us.
[00:19:32.550]And it's great for reducing challenges
[00:19:34.200]with reading comprehension.
[00:19:36.030]And then the transformation module is created
[00:19:38.620]to produce awareness of abstract concepts
[00:19:40.880]of same, different, opposite comparison,
[00:19:42.840]hierarchy, and perspective taking.
[00:19:44.800]This module begins very basic with items
[00:19:47.310]like shape-shape matching, and rises to the higher limits
[00:19:50.290]of abstract logical reasoning."
[00:19:52.270]This is all from the PEAK website.
[00:19:55.520]Note that this says ages 0 to 16,
[00:19:57.890]so really any of the students you would encounter
[00:20:00.150]in the school system,
[00:20:01.230]you should mostly be able to use PEAK with them.
[00:20:06.360]The Early Start Denver Model was authored
[00:20:08.500]by Dr. Sally Rogers and Dr. Geraldine Dawson,
[00:20:11.500]and we are going to be discussing this one
[00:20:13.110]in more detail in Session Three.
[00:20:15.220]The focus is on skill development for ages 0 to 4
[00:20:18.260]across typical developmental domains.
[00:20:20.490]The description from their website:
[00:20:21.937]"The aim of ESDM is to increase the rates of the development
[00:20:24.960]in all domains for children with ASD
[00:20:27.250]as it simultaneously aims
[00:20:28.670]to decrease the symptoms of autism.
[00:20:30.750]In particular, this intervention focuses
[00:20:32.620]on boosting children's social-emotional, cognitive,
[00:20:35.000]and language as development in these domains,
[00:20:37.120]is particularly affected by autism."
[00:20:39.460]So note again, the age here is 0 to 4.
[00:20:41.930]So if you have learners older than like five or six,
[00:20:45.310]this isn't an assessment would use with them.
[00:20:50.500]The Assessment of Functional Living Skills,
[00:20:52.760]is an assessment that was authored
[00:20:55.130]by Dr. Partington and Dr. Mueller.
[00:20:57.340]The focus is on functional skill development
[00:20:59.480]for children, adolescents, and adults,
[00:21:01.820]and the description from their site:
[00:21:03.207]"The AFLS is comprised of the AFLS Guide
[00:21:05.640]and assessment protocols that assess functional,
[00:21:07.820]practical, and essential skills of everyday life.
[00:21:10.350]Although each assessment protocol can be used
[00:21:12.420]as a standalone assessment,
[00:21:13.980]we conceptualize all protocols as being different modules
[00:21:16.840]of an extended assessment that exists on a continuum,
[00:21:19.700]spanning throughout a learner's life
[00:21:21.090]in home, school, and community settings."
[00:21:25.250]Essential for Living is authored
[00:21:27.060]by Dr. Pat McGreevy and Troy Fry,
[00:21:29.540]the focus is on functional skill development.
[00:21:32.400]The quote from their website:
[00:21:33.567]"Essential for Living includes seven skill domains
[00:21:36.510]and one domain on problem behavior.
[00:21:38.640]Skills are designated as; must-have, should-have,
[00:21:41.210]good-to-have, and nice-to-have within each skill domain.
[00:21:44.190]Must-have skills, also referred to
[00:21:45.960]as the Essential Eight Skills,
[00:21:47.220]are generally more functional and less difficult
[00:21:49.870]and should be assessed and taught first,
[00:21:52.270]followed by should-have, good-to-have,
[00:21:53.910]and nice-to-have skills,
[00:21:55.200]which are progressively less functional
[00:21:56.790]with a few exceptions and more difficult."
[00:22:01.550]The IGLR is the Inventory of Good Learner Repertoires,
[00:22:04.190]and the author is Steve Ward.
[00:22:06.050]The focus is on teaching good learner skills.
[00:22:08.577]"A 'good learner' is someone who readily responds
[00:22:10.930]to instruction in a wide variety of situations.
[00:22:13.650]These learners can not only spend time
[00:22:15.300]in a variety of non-restrictive settings,
[00:22:17.010]such as regular education classroom and community locations,
[00:22:20.350]but can also learn new skills in those settings.
[00:22:22.800]The Inventory of Good Learner Repertoires covers 139 items
[00:22:26.430]that assess the ease with which a learner can be taught.
[00:22:29.420]These items are separated into 10 categories:
[00:22:31.670]Behavioral Excesses, Behavioral Supports,
[00:22:34.040]Resilience and Regulation, Readiness,
[00:22:36.090]Perseverance and Focus, Flexibility, Consequences,
[00:22:39.250]Preferences for Learning Channels, Spontaneity,
[00:22:41.760]and Potential to Benefit from Inclusion."
[00:22:46.690]Okay, looking at social skills,
[00:22:48.470]there were so many different assessments
[00:22:50.250]that are out there for social skills,
[00:22:51.650]it was hard to have a slide on each one,
[00:22:54.340]so I just summarized.
[00:22:55.350]These are the main ones that we use.
[00:22:57.390]So there's PEERS out of UCLA,
[00:22:59.820]and they have different age ranges that you can use.
[00:23:03.380]Social Thinking is by Michelle Garcia Winner,
[00:23:07.020]and it's not behavior analytic in nature.
[00:23:08.940]So if you were to use Social Thinking,
[00:23:10.830]you would need to make sure
[00:23:12.510]if you're operating from the framework of behavior analysis,
[00:23:15.650]that you look at how to do that.
[00:23:18.140]It's more of a resource than anything.
[00:23:21.740]Skill Streaming, uses Behavioral Skills Training.
[00:23:25.520]Washington Social Skills Profile
[00:23:28.010]and the Autism Social Skills Profile,
[00:23:29.760]are both research-based assessments
[00:23:32.590]and you can look at assessing the learner
[00:23:36.020]and then developing your social skills intervention,
[00:23:38.390]based off of that.
[00:23:39.850]It's important to note for social skills training,
[00:23:42.230]the research pretty consistently shows
[00:23:44.170]that Behavioral Skills Training is a key component,
[00:23:46.950]where you explain what's being taught and why,
[00:23:50.630]you practice it, and you give feedback.
[00:23:53.100]Typically, if those things aren't happening
[00:23:54.870]within a social skills program,
[00:23:57.150]they're not going to be as effective.
[00:24:01.170]Direct instruction is not necessarily an assessment,
[00:24:04.460]it's a teaching model,
[00:24:07.350]but there's different materials that are out there
[00:24:10.400]that incorporate an assessment within them
[00:24:12.440]or multiple assessments, so that's why I have this in here.
[00:24:15.860]So Language for Learning, Language for Thinking,
[00:24:18.310]and Reading Mastery are all scripted DI curriculums
[00:24:21.730]that have assessments both like at the very beginning
[00:24:25.140]and then throughout, so you can track and see
[00:24:27.190]if your learner is making progress.
[00:24:29.200]And typically people go in that order,
[00:24:30.900]they'll do Language for Learning first,
[00:24:32.460]then Language for Thinking, then Reading Mastery.
[00:24:34.960]I had a hard time getting Language for Thinking,
[00:24:37.690]so a lot of my learners, we just did Language for Learning.
[00:24:40.630]And then once they were in kindergarten,
[00:24:42.150]we would work on Reading Mastery.
[00:24:44.320]With direct instruction,
[00:24:45.900]there's a big focus on the I do, we do, you do.
[00:24:48.580]So the scripted lesson, the teacher first models the thing,
[00:24:53.030]then they do it together, and then there's a release
[00:24:55.500]for the students to do it by themselves.
[00:24:57.460]And there's a heavy focus
[00:24:58.550]on teaching examples and non-examples,
[00:25:00.620]and it's all based on instructional design
[00:25:03.540]and looking at how do people best learn things.
[00:25:06.950]So it's really helpful for teaching,
[00:25:09.190]especially some basic language concepts
[00:25:11.250]for Language for Learning,
[00:25:12.560]but then also you can get into more academics
[00:25:14.530]with Reading Mastery,
[00:25:15.610]and there's different math options as well.
[00:25:19.890]So, I know I went really fast there,
[00:25:22.280]hopefully that was all helpful.
[00:25:24.370]Maybe it was a review on some of them,
[00:25:25.840]maybe there were some new assessments,
[00:25:27.130]you hadn't heard of before,
[00:25:28.640]but with all of those different assessment options,
[00:25:30.570]how do we possibly decide, what we're going to use?
[00:25:33.980]So I know some people who are just:
[00:25:35.637]"This is the assessment I use, I always use VB-MAPP,
[00:25:38.300]I always use the ABLLS, I only use PEAK."
[00:25:41.120]That isn't for me, that's not what I've seen
[00:25:43.660]as most effective for the learners that I've served.
[00:25:45.770]I've worked with hundreds of students
[00:25:48.050]and it's impossible to have one assessment
[00:25:51.540]that's just going to be it for every single one of them,
[00:25:54.360]especially if you're working with different ages.
[00:25:56.410]So what I've done is,
[00:25:57.430]I've developed a core assessment process,
[00:25:59.710]where I have my core assessments that I use
[00:26:02.300]and I have like typical profiles,
[00:26:04.760]and I can know based off of the profile,
[00:26:06.740]where I'm gonna start, and then I shift things around,
[00:26:09.440]depending on how the learner is doing.
[00:26:11.760]So that's the process I wanna explain to you today.
[00:26:15.020]So for core assessment,
[00:26:17.440]I mean, I go through each
[00:26:18.750]of those assessments we just talked about,
[00:26:20.740]and kind of describe where I use these as a core assessment.
[00:26:24.750]So for Early Start Denver Model,
[00:26:26.310]if I have a learner that's birth to three,
[00:26:29.140]if they're presenting with classic autism,
[00:26:31.060]like they easily got a diagnosis,
[00:26:32.850]they have kinda limited skill sets,
[00:26:35.590]especially for that young of an age,
[00:26:38.420]if their motor imitation is really weak,
[00:26:40.870]and if they don't have a whole lot of joint attention
[00:26:43.680]or pre-communicated behaviors.
[00:26:45.050]So any client I see in my, you know,
[00:26:48.050]even just first of five to 10 minutes,
[00:26:50.770]if this is what's happening,
[00:26:52.060]I'll use Early Start Denver Model as my core assessment.
[00:26:56.120]PEAK is birth to adult, so it's kind of wide-ranging.
[00:27:01.483]If I have a learner who's birth to three
[00:27:04.100]and they're beyond the skills
[00:27:06.150]that are in Early Start Denver Model,
[00:27:07.610]so they have some basic language,
[00:27:09.620]they're basically on track for a lot of other skills,
[00:27:14.230]even though they're so young,
[00:27:16.420]maybe they barely got a diagnosis,
[00:27:18.580]then I might use PEAK as my core assessment with them.
[00:27:22.360]I can also use it for learners,
[00:27:24.030]who need basic language intervention,
[00:27:25.740]they just need foundational language skills,
[00:27:28.100]and also learners who already have basic language skills
[00:27:31.270]and need more advanced language intervention.
[00:27:36.220]The AFLS typically, I only look at this as an option.
[00:27:40.260]If I have a learner who's age five or older,
[00:27:43.330]because of just the skills that are targeted,
[00:27:45.140]most of the things that are in there aren't appropriate
[00:27:47.540]for younger than five
[00:27:48.720]and a lot of them aren't even appropriate
[00:27:50.440]for like the 5 to probably 10-year-old range,
[00:27:53.330]but there are some like taking trash
[00:27:55.650]and putting it in the trash can
[00:27:56.760]or putting dishes in the sink
[00:27:57.930]and some little things like that,
[00:27:59.800]that you could use with younger ages.
[00:28:02.640]I typically reserve AFLS if I'm making little
[00:28:05.500]to no progress with language programming,
[00:28:08.600]because my goal is typically to really get moving,
[00:28:13.500]especially for the younger ages
[00:28:15.160]with that language programming.
[00:28:16.530]But if I'm not really making a lot of progress there,
[00:28:18.890]then I'll start working on the skills from the AFLS.
[00:28:22.130]It's important though, if you do use the AFLS
[00:28:24.210]that you're choosing age-appropriate skills,
[00:28:26.220]because like I mentioned,
[00:28:27.110]a lot of the skills are for older learners.
[00:28:31.560]The Essential for Living, really could be used with any age,
[00:28:34.780]but I reserve it for learners where I'm making little
[00:28:37.630]to no progress with any other type of programming.
[00:28:40.290]So it really only is a core assessment for me.
[00:28:43.840]If I get a new client, where I've been told,
[00:28:46.280]historically they're not really making a ton of progress,
[00:28:48.940]or if after a few months
[00:28:51.050]of using one of my other core assessments,
[00:28:53.580]they're not really progressing,
[00:28:54.940]then I'll switch over to the Essential for Living
[00:28:57.290]because it does such a nice job
[00:28:58.710]of tracking even little movements and progress
[00:29:01.590]with fading prompts and things like that.
[00:29:05.900]Social skills, this could be a core assessment on any age.
[00:29:10.040]Typically for me, it's a core assessment
[00:29:12.550]when my clients are performing well
[00:29:14.480]and there are other types of assessments,
[00:29:15.910]such as PEAK or AFLS, and it's just that's their main area
[00:29:19.300]that they need to work on is the social skills
[00:29:21.170]and want to work on.
[00:29:23.740]Direct instruction, I typically use
[00:29:26.160]as a primary core assessment with visual learners.
[00:29:30.170]If they're performing really well
[00:29:31.810]when there's visuals to go with, then I definitely like
[00:29:35.970]to use the direct instruction materials
[00:29:37.570]because they're heavily reliant on visuals in that.
[00:29:40.630]If I have routine-oriented learners,
[00:29:42.540]they tend to benefit a lot from direct instruction,
[00:29:45.560]although I have to be careful
[00:29:46.720]and make sure they're truly learning the content
[00:29:48.870]and not just memorizing the routine.
[00:29:50.820]And if I have younger learners who are prepping for school,
[00:29:54.660]this is nice because you can pretend to be a teacher
[00:29:57.320]and sort of set them up for that.
[00:29:58.540]So if any of you are in like a preschool
[00:30:00.070]or kindergarten setting,
[00:30:01.610]the direct instruction materials,
[00:30:02.850]can be really helpful for that.
[00:30:07.040]The Inventory of Good Learner Repertoires,
[00:30:08.990]I typically use if I have learners,
[00:30:11.050]who are engaging in a high-level of challenging behavior
[00:30:13.810]or if they have a high-level of barriers
[00:30:15.500]that are interfering with their learning.
[00:30:20.150]The VB-MAPP at this point, I really only use it
[00:30:23.400]if I'm looking at basic language instruction
[00:30:27.280]and that's all I need to work on.
[00:30:28.700]Maybe I have a limited amount of time,
[00:30:30.330]maybe the rest of the team is really familiar with VB-MAPP,
[00:30:33.540]and we're just trying to get going with things.
[00:30:36.290]I do really, the transition assessment is really helpful
[00:30:40.010]for those younger learners who are transitioning
[00:30:42.390]from in-home settings or kind of a mixed classroom
[00:30:46.490]to see, you know, what type of classrooms should they be in,
[00:30:49.140]is it one-on-one?
[00:30:50.700]Can they be in a mainstream classroom?
[00:30:53.570]That transition assessment can be really helpful for that.
[00:30:55.840]So sometimes I don't actually really do much of the VB-MAPP,
[00:30:59.120]I just look at that transition assessment
[00:31:02.810]and get the scores in there to help guide the team
[00:31:06.250]on what might be the most appropriate setting
[00:31:08.170]for the student.
[00:31:11.120]So now that we've gone over the core assessments,
[00:31:13.730]I want to give you another way to look at this.
[00:31:18.360]Over my years of providing intervention,
[00:31:21.350]I've kind of seen, there's learner profiles.
[00:31:25.740]I have four listed here,
[00:31:27.010]there's obviously a ton more than that.
[00:31:29.100]However, when I'm training others
[00:31:30.920]or I'm trying to conceptualize this for myself,
[00:31:33.430]these four are the main ones that sort of come up.
[00:31:36.330]I can almost bet every single learner I've ever had
[00:31:38.710]into one of these four categories.
[00:31:40.610]So what we're going to do is go over each of these profiles
[00:31:43.170]and look at what are the assessments I would use,
[00:31:45.610]based on that type of learner,
[00:31:47.260]and what are some of the typical skills
[00:31:48.880]that we would target initially with that type of learner.
[00:31:53.120]So the Early Learner Profile,
[00:31:54.810]typically the age is one to five years old.
[00:31:57.570]They typically don't have any experience with ABA
[00:31:59.930]or any other structured intervention or school setting.
[00:32:02.920]They demonstrate very few skills,
[00:32:05.090]and there's little to no functional communication occurring.
[00:32:09.590]So with this, these are the assessment considerations
[00:32:12.470]that I would go through.
[00:32:14.418]ABLLS-R, sections A and C,
[00:32:16.890]so Cooperation and Reinforcer Effectiveness is section A
[00:32:20.110]and Early Receptive Language Skills is section C.
[00:32:24.040]With a learner this young, the skills targeted
[00:32:26.650]in those two areas can be really helpful,
[00:32:28.640]especially the early part of C that works
[00:32:31.050]on responding to preferred instructions.
[00:32:35.660]My core assessment would be Early Start Denver Model
[00:32:39.670]because of that age, and like I said,
[00:32:41.770]the skills that need to be targeted,
[00:32:44.040]and I would be heavily focusing on motor imitation
[00:32:46.640]and sensory social routines.
[00:32:48.250]Like I mentioned, we'll talk about this
[00:32:49.780]in more detail in Session Three.
[00:32:52.000]VB-MAPP, I wouldn't really use it,
[00:32:53.930]but I would if it was a comfort thing
[00:32:56.020]for the rest of the team, then we could use it,
[00:32:58.530]or if the family was familiar with it
[00:33:00.060]or something like that.
[00:33:01.390]And then I would use PEAK to supplement,
[00:33:04.870]and I would go through all four modules,
[00:33:07.370]and I really wanna switch it over to a core assessment
[00:33:11.070]until the learner was making sufficient progress
[00:33:13.900]with the Early Start Denver Model skills.
[00:33:15.630]But I would still use it if I needed
[00:33:17.620]to supplement with a few additional programs.
[00:33:19.920]I wanted to start working on some of the different skills
[00:33:23.790]that are targeted and equivalents and transformation
[00:33:25.960]that aren't really in the Early Start Denver Model.
[00:33:30.500]A sample program lists for an early learner.
[00:33:32.940]Demand fading, so slowly building up the expectations
[00:33:36.260]and the amount of demands presented.
[00:33:38.180]Ready to learn skills and not done in an artificial way,
[00:33:41.010]but really working in like a fun, playful way
[00:33:43.670]to just demonstrate that they're attending
[00:33:45.770]to the world around them,
[00:33:47.310]and they're connecting with people to learn from.
[00:33:50.380]Pairing, is that developing
[00:33:51.810]that strong teaching relationship,
[00:33:53.610]trusted teaching relationship.
[00:33:55.940]Pre-communicative skills,
[00:33:57.160]really having that communicative intent especially.
[00:34:00.610]Mand training, if the other things are going well,
[00:34:04.030]even early mand training
[00:34:05.240]though I'm gonna be looking at even just approaching items
[00:34:09.360]and gaze shifting, and those types of things,
[00:34:11.610]not going straight in for one word request
[00:34:14.220]or something like that.
[00:34:15.450]Attending, matching, motor imitation,
[00:34:18.050]object imitation, shape sorter, and basic puzzles.
[00:34:22.900]Middle learners, the age varies greatly for this profile.
[00:34:27.030]Usually they have some experience with ABA
[00:34:29.210]or some type of instruction,
[00:34:31.190]and they've mastered most of the early learner skills,
[00:34:34.340]and they engage in some functional communication.
[00:34:38.660]So, some assessment considerations for middle learners.
[00:34:42.110]I would use PEAK as my core assessment
[00:34:44.260]and I would be using all four modules.
[00:34:46.610]The Assessment of Functional Living Skills,
[00:34:49.440]again targeting only age-appropriate skills,
[00:34:52.350]and it would be a supplementary one.
[00:34:53.870]It wouldn't be my core assessment,
[00:34:55.350]I would just pull from there based on the unique needs
[00:34:58.190]of the learner and if I needed to supplement, you know,
[00:35:00.740]if I needed some additional programs.
[00:35:03.020]Direct instruction, again,
[00:35:04.580]I would use to supplement as needed
[00:35:06.780]for whatever skills we're trying to work on.
[00:35:11.290]A sample program list for middle learners:
[00:35:13.490]Advanced puzzles, block designs, patterns, sorting,
[00:35:17.040]and a lot of receptive ID.
[00:35:18.470]So receptive ID of objects and pictures,
[00:35:20.710]receptive commands, receptive ID of feature,
[00:35:23.520]function, class, and associated pictures,
[00:35:26.200]a few advanced imitation tasks, vocal imitation,
[00:35:30.040]labeling items, pictures as they are mastered receptively,
[00:35:33.230]fill in songs, and fill in fun activities.
[00:35:37.670]Advanced learners, again, the age would vary here.
[00:35:41.190]Typically, they've been in ABA
[00:35:42.760]or other interventions for a few years
[00:35:44.840]and/or they're not demonstrating as many symptoms,
[00:35:49.050]they're not as affected by their disability.
[00:35:52.620]They've also mastered the early
[00:35:55.130]and most of the middle learner skills,
[00:35:56.920]and they spontaneously engage in functional communication.
[00:36:00.910]So my core assessment for advanced learners would be PEAK,
[00:36:04.810]and I would use all four modules.
[00:36:07.140]The AFLS, again, I would use
[00:36:09.410]if there's age-appropriate skills that could be targeted
[00:36:12.300]and I needed to supplement.
[00:36:14.060]Direct instruction, I would use as a supplement as needed.
[00:36:17.140]And social skills, depending on the profile,
[00:36:19.500]could actually be my core assessment
[00:36:21.320]if they've mastered the advanced language skills
[00:36:23.950]and they're needing to just work on
[00:36:25.700]and wanting to just work on social skills,
[00:36:27.930]then that might be my core assessment.
[00:36:29.450]If not, then I would supplement
[00:36:31.100]with the social skills assessments as needed.
[00:36:35.550]A sample program list for advanced learners:
[00:36:38.260]Sequencing, seriation, mazes, receptive pronouns,
[00:36:42.270]community helpers, actions, prepositions.
[00:36:44.990]Receptive identification based on two characteristics,
[00:36:47.890]labeling feature, function, class, pronouns,
[00:36:49.960]community helpers, actions, prepositions
[00:36:52.250]as they master them receptively.
[00:36:54.400]Receptive and expressive identification of body parts,
[00:36:57.030]emotions, adjectives, personal questions,
[00:37:00.010]fill in feature, function, class, associations,
[00:37:02.480]and answering basic WH questions.
[00:37:05.140]Now, if you have learners,
[00:37:06.590]who already do all of these things,
[00:37:08.310]then they would just be, you know,
[00:37:09.630]on an even higher profile and advance advanced learner.
[00:37:14.550]And pretty much the same would apply,
[00:37:17.230]where PEAK would be my core assessment
[00:37:19.070]or where we're working on more of like things relating
[00:37:21.780]to academics that aren't typically coming up
[00:37:23.850]in behavior analytic interventions,
[00:37:26.300]and it's more just school-related
[00:37:27.820]and focused on problem-solving there.
[00:37:31.840]Now this last profile, I wish I had a better name for,
[00:37:35.420]it's the only name that I think really helps quickly,
[00:37:38.860]identify for people what I'm talking about.
[00:37:41.070]I've called it functional learners.
[00:37:43.130]Basically the idea is that sometimes we have learners
[00:37:47.760]that might have a dual diagnosis,
[00:37:49.970]where they might have a cognitive disability
[00:37:52.950]on top of their diagnosis of autism.
[00:37:55.560]Maybe they have a seizure disorder,
[00:37:57.680]maybe there's some other medical thing going on
[00:37:59.710]that causes a lot of skill regression,
[00:38:02.290]or just difficulty in learning skills.
[00:38:04.590]So, for that's what I'm referring to
[00:38:07.250]for the functional learners.
[00:38:08.550]And again, I wish I had a better name,
[00:38:09.940]but that's what I have.
[00:38:12.020]So the age on this varies.
[00:38:13.950]You typically, like I said, would have a dual diagnosis,
[00:38:16.360]or you're not seeing performance as expected
[00:38:19.520]for typical skill acquisition.
[00:38:21.340]So typically with our learners,
[00:38:22.760]once we've got the right programming in place,
[00:38:25.080]they tend to learn new skills pretty quickly.
[00:38:27.940]But with functional learners,
[00:38:29.470]you could be taking a really long time
[00:38:31.120]or you're doing a lot of troubleshooting
[00:38:32.500]and they're just not really making progress
[00:38:33.890]like you would expect.
[00:38:35.390]Typically, requires more intensive training
[00:38:37.430]and takes longer to acquire skills
[00:38:39.280]or may acquire skills and then lose them.
[00:38:42.070]And there's typically limited functional communication.
[00:38:45.780]So for functional learner assessment considerations,
[00:38:48.890]usually the assessment of functional living skills,
[00:38:51.810]would be my core assessments
[00:38:53.540]and just looking at all the different lists of things
[00:38:56.320]that people perform on a daily basis
[00:38:59.790]that we don't necessarily think of
[00:39:02.180]but of course making sure it's age-appropriate.
[00:39:05.460]If I have a learner who's really significantly affected,
[00:39:09.490]like they're just really, you know,
[00:39:10.750]it could take a year to learn a whole new skill,
[00:39:13.300]then I might use the Essential for Living
[00:39:15.540]as my core assessment, again, because of the ability
[00:39:18.630]to note progress even in just fading prompts.
[00:39:23.620]What's interesting is, I still would use PEAK
[00:39:26.120]as a supplemental assessment.
[00:39:28.200]And I would look at all four modules,
[00:39:30.350]because I don't wanna hold my learners back
[00:39:32.160]and I wanna make sure we're really giving them
[00:39:33.890]as much as we can with language as possible,
[00:39:36.610]and PEAK right now is the main assessment that does that.
[00:39:39.790]There's also a new aspect of PEAK called PEAK Life,
[00:39:43.150]but I haven't used it yet.
[00:39:44.420]I was able to see some of the materials
[00:39:46.390]when I used to do the PEAK trainings,
[00:39:48.330]but I'm not as familiar with it now as, you know,
[00:39:52.140]I would've been if I had kept doing the trainings.
[00:39:54.310]So I might actually at some point,
[00:39:56.870]once I become more familiar with PEAK Life, say,
[00:39:59.540]nevermind the APLS and EFL, I just wanna use PEAK Life,
[00:40:02.610]but I don't know enough about it yet to say that.
[00:40:05.160]So it's definitely worth investigating
[00:40:06.900]and learning more about if you're working with this profile.
[00:40:10.580]And then the Inventory of Good Learner Repertoires,
[00:40:12.670]I would also use as a supplemental assessment,
[00:40:14.910]and I would focus on addressing barriers.
[00:40:16.650]So really looking at okay,
[00:40:18.350]based on their scores on this assessment,
[00:40:20.500]what areas are most interfering with their progress
[00:40:23.680]and let's, you know, develop some programs around those.
[00:40:29.450]So a sample of program list for functional learning.
[00:40:32.790]Functional communication would be a big one, really helping,
[00:40:35.230]and again, based on their communication, right?
[00:40:38.040]Like not trying to fit someone in a box
[00:40:39.970]or anything like that, but really looking at,
[00:40:41.830]how are they communicating and interacting
[00:40:43.700]with the world around them
[00:40:44.640]and what can we do to build that up?
[00:40:46.810]Daily living skills, vocational skills, community skills,
[00:40:50.820]the essential skills from EFL,
[00:40:52.520]so the Eight Essential Skills.
[00:40:55.270]Really getting into a lot
[00:40:56.630]of those component composite analysis,
[00:40:58.580]because typically with this profile,
[00:41:00.960]the reason skills haven't been acquired,
[00:41:03.210]is people haven't broken things down small enough
[00:41:06.443]and they're trying to go too fast.
[00:41:08.040]So you need to build up fluency with those smaller skills.
[00:41:11.890]And then the Big 6+6,
[00:41:13.420]is a aspect of component composite analysis
[00:41:16.670]from precision teaching that looks at motor movements
[00:41:19.320]and building fluency with motor movements.
[00:41:21.520]And I have a separate webinar on that too.
[00:41:24.140]But for this one, basically the idea is
[00:41:27.110]when you look at how learning happens,
[00:41:29.520]if people aren't fluent in their motor movements,
[00:41:32.040]it's harder to get to higher-order language and cognition.
[00:41:36.100]So when we have learners who are struggling just
[00:41:38.310]to move their bodies fluently,
[00:41:40.640]we're going to see less progress in other areas.
[00:41:42.960]So if we focus on building up fluency with the Big 6+6,
[00:41:46.470]that should carry over to other skills as well.
[00:41:50.100]Feel free to email me
[00:41:51.000]if you wanna learn more about that too.
[00:41:53.820]Okay, so that's it for Session One.
[00:41:56.450]Again, if you have any questions
[00:41:58.030]about the content we covered here or some of the items,
[00:42:00.930]I said I have additional information on,
[00:42:02.950]feel free to email me at the email listed here.
[00:42:06.700]And there's also resources that I created for this session
[00:42:11.160]that should be shared with you.
[00:42:14.440]The sample assessment process,
[00:42:16.110]there's a whole packet that goes into more detail
[00:42:18.510]with specific questions to ask,
[00:42:20.360]and it is organized by the different phases
[00:42:23.040]that I talked about for early, middle and advanced learners.
[00:42:27.210]So hopefully you'll find that helpful as well.
[00:42:30.010]See you for the next round.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

ABLLS-R, AFLS, VBMAPP, ESDM, PEAK!?!? CHOOSING THE RIGHT ASSESSMENT FOR YOUR LEARNER WITH AUTISM Session 1

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments