Assessment Part 1

I thought this video was interesting because since I work with middle school aged children with autism, I really have very little experience with students who are currently being diagnosed. The experience I do have is from the point of view of an ABA therapist coming into the home shortly after a child is diagnosed. I also have assisted general education teachers who have had students who were recently diagnosed with Asperger’s.

I wasn’t surprised that testing a student with autism took 3 times as long for the school psychologist. I was relieved when she talked about having to make so many accommodations to her testing for students with autism because I have had to make many accommodations for our state test for my students.

I wish the video had talked a little more about the co-morbidity of an autism spectrum disorder and depression in older children.  It was only mentioned once, but I would really like to know more about that since I work with older students. I have several students who are on anti-depressant medication or anti-anxiety medication, and I have heard that anxiety and depression can often go hand in hand. I would have been interested to hear exactly how a student with autism spectrum disorder could be assessed for these co-morbid conditions.

I also hope they touch upon exactly how they adapt their assessments for students with autism spectrum disorders. I currently have a classroom of seven students, five of whom use AAC devices to communicate. I would really like to see how to work in the use of the AAC device without compromising the validity of some of the assessments.

What exactly do they mean by “standardized” test? Are these tests standardized using children with autism or children who are neuro-typical?