The Importance of Assessment for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Assessment is a very important step in the intervention process for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It provides critical information about the child’s current strengths, skills and interests as well as information about areas in need of further development. This level of understanding can only be achieved through a comprehensive assessment process.
The assessment process should be collaborative and involve input from the important people in the child’s life such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists and above all the child’s family as they know their child best.
The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is a highly acclaimed play-based intervention, specifically designed for young children with ASD focusing on daily routines and play. The ESDM assessment process involves a comprehensive curriculum checklist. Within each level of the ESDM curriculum checklist there are 120 items to be assessed. Due to the naturalistic, play-based and collaborative nature of the assessment several assessment items can be targeted at once, enabling the assessment process to be complete within an hour to an hour and a half session.
Assessment enables an ESDM therapist to identify the child's Zone of Proximal Development - the space between what the child is currently able to do and what they need to be able to do. Within an ESDM therapy session the child's Zone of Proximal Development will be targeted by constantly moving between maintenance skills and acquisition skills. Continually coming back to maintenance skills provides the child with the motivation, confidence and feeling of success necessary to attempt new skills.
Once the assessment process is complete, the child’s program is developed, identifying 2-4 items that need further development in each developmental domain to focus on. These items are turned into objectives targeting areas the child is showing strength and interest to capture the child’s motivation.
The objectives follow a clear ABC structure.
A – Antecedent from the adult to elicit the needed behaviour from the child.
B – Behaviour from the child that can be measured and observed.
C – Criterion which includes two parts, mastery and generalisation.
Each objective is broken down into 5 teaching steps that scaffold the child’s development, over a 12 week period, towards achieving the objective. These are then reviewed at the end of each quarter and a new child program developed.
Example Objective: When the adult pauses during a sensory social routine the child will give a physical prompt, with eye-contact and vocalisation to continue the routine. The child will be able to do this in 4 out of 5 different social routines with 2 different adults in different settings
Example Teaching Steps
- The child will use a physical prompt 1 out of 5 times
- The child will use a physical prompt, with eye contact 2 out of 5 times
- The child will use a physical prompt, with eye contact and vocalisation 3 out 5 routines
- The child will master this 4 out of 5 routines
- The child will generalise this skill by achieving this level of mastery across two different settings and people
Setting clear, observable, measurable objectives enables a parent or therapist to know at any point in time how the child is progressing towards achieving the developmental goal. By targeting these objects within the framework of a joint activity routine and embedding choice into every routine the child is always motivated by making choices within a play-based structure.
You can learn more about the Early Start Denver Model, including information about upcoming training courses for parents, carers and professionals, working with and caring for, children with ASD here.
Want to learn more about what is going on at Early Start? Find out here.
