There are so many different areas to take into consideration when assessing a child with an Autism spectrum disorder.  Perhaps the most important thing to consider when looking at standardized assessment results is that they may not always be consistent with the way the child is functionally performing in the classroom.  In the video, it was said that the child may perform within the average range on standardized assessments, but they may be unable to keep up with the curriculum in the classroom.  This is often seen in children on the more high functioning end of the spectrum.  Therefore, their frustration level must be observed as well as various work samples to get an appropriate feel of what the child can and cannot do.

When looking at different areas to be assessed, I particularly liked how executive functioning was discussed in detail.  If a child's executive functioning skills are poor, their day-to-day performance in even the most routine of activities could be very poor.  These children might have difficulties focusing, shifting attention, planning/organizing, etc.  These skills are essentially the foundational skills one needs to be fully present throughout their school day.  As a special needs pre-school teacher, it is my goal that children will leave my classroom with some basic executive functioning skills even if they do not take away anything else.  Communication is another thing I look closely at when assessing children at the pre-school level.  Many children have no communication when they first enter my classroom, and the first thing we teach them is functional communication and how to get their needs met.  This is mainly done through withholding common objects throughout their day.  They need to request food/drink, request help if needed, request art materials, etc.  As the video said, it doesn't matter if one has a large vocabulary if they cannot appropriately use what they know.  Teaching functional communication is another way to actively avoid behavior problems.  Sensory processing is another area that should be looked at closely, and may be evidenced by children commonly over-reacting to things in their environment.  This often occurs when demands have increased; as a result, behaviors may increase as well in order to escape difficult activities.

Again, this video stressed the importance of ABC charts when looking at educational planning which ties into the behaviors one may see due to deficits in communication and sensory processing.  When looking at the antecedents, you might find out what accommodations you need to make, where you need to support the student with more visuals, how you can increase motivation for the child to make it through a particularly difficult activity, etc.  Consequences will give you the biggest clue about the function of a child's behavior.  I also found it interesting that the presenters stressed the importance of focusing on behaviors if they are an issue as problematic behaviors could actually place children in a more restricted environment.  Therefore, this should be a high priority goal as students should be placed in the least restrictive environment possible.  All of this information combined should help guide the writing of the goals and objectives within the IEP which guides specific educational planning for each child.