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

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

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[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.

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

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