In the video Patricia Schroder and Kristine Strong talked about naturalistic observation. We have read that direct observation is the “best” measure of behavior. It is not always easy to conduct naturalistic observation, and there is the chance that some behavior will increase or decrease due to an observation. However research shows that the observer effect does not last long. Direct assessment is more reliable that indirect assessment. However, indirect measures of assessment are important to get the whole picture, as well as an idea of how the behavior affects the child's family.
They also spoke at great length about executive functioning skills. Executive functioning is a prominent area of both assessment and intervention. It is very important to assess executive functioning, but not always easy. They talked about evaluating behavior regulation, anticipating events and preparing for events, forming goals, and identifying specific steps and strategies to reach the goals. When assessing executive functioning skills it is important to integrate the various types of assessment. A clinician should observe the child in their natural setting, have the child fill out a questionnaire if possible, and have a parent report on their executive functioning skills at home as well. It is also important to note (from my personal experience) that just because a child appears to have these skills at school does not mean that they translate to the home. School life is very structured compared to home life. Students are given a schedule and usually a planner to write down their homework. They may even learn to write down which steps of a project need to be finished when, but that does not mean that they know how to get each section done in time. Sustaining attention can also be harder at home, there is a lot more potential for distracting stimuli at home, and students need to know how to avoid that distraction.
The speakers also mentioned how important it is to note what type of reward system and how many breaks a student needs when completing an academic assessment. The assessment itself only tells you the level of academic work, not how difficult it is for them to complete this work. We should never base an assessment on testing alone. I believe that all assessments should be done by a team of professionals that work with the student, and may include people that do not work with the student on a regular basis to provide a non-biased opinion.
Another aspect the speakers mentioned was the ability to look around and see what they other students in the class are doing. In my classroom we have a curriculum for this; it is called “Read the Room”. We teach the students through worksheets, video modeling and role play how to “Read the Room”. They also mentioned that students often use maladaptive behavior to communicate. I have found that teaching functional communication (using their words, devices or PECS pictures to communicate) has cut this type of attention-seeking behavior down immensely. It is important to keep in mind that we should always do some type of functional assessment of FBA to determine the function of a behavior. This is also an example of when you would use integrated types of assessment to determine the best behavioral intervention to use.
Assessment data should be used to inform the TEAM about goals to work on, specialized needs and specialized instructions and accommodations. Accommodations include any assistive technology. However care must be taken to make sure that the AT the student uses is not included within the goals on the IEP, but rather under accommodations. At can include eccological supports, alternative communication, and any type of visual support.
As we saw on the video, read in the book and discussed in class, the most important aspect we should focus on is what the student needs to make progress. We must not forget to focus on social skills as well as academic progress. Social skills are an extremely important life skill. Social skills must be assessed by standardized tests as well as naturalistic observation to get the full picture of strengths and weaknesses. In the last chapter of the book the authors mention the importance of observing the student in their natural setting. If that isn't possible they suggest that you simulate their natural environments.
Lastly, parent involvement should be stressed as a critical piece of the student’s progress. Parent involvement can make a HUGE difference in the development of the child. In my own experience, when parents are involved and have good communication with the school and anyone that evaluates their child, the child makes much more progress than the child whose parent is not involved in the process.
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