Strategies for Assessing the Communicative and Cognitive Competencies of learners with

multiple disabilities

Austin TX June 27, 2014

philip d schweigert

Purpose of Assessment for children who are identified as having a disability

• To determine eligibility for services • To develop an educational program that fits

the child’s strengths, learning style and areas of needs

• To design appropriate interventions to enhance the child’s learning experiences

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the educational program in facilitating child progress

Rowland et al (2009) Assessing Communication and Learning in Young Children who are Deafblind or Who Have Multiple Disabilities

“Assessment that does not lead to improved student performance serves

no useful purpose” (Bradley-Johnson, 1994)

“Assessment is a pivotal event for families and their children..” Bagnato, S. 2009

Assessment is Dynamic

• (Early Childhood) assessment is a flexible, collaborative decision-making process in which teams of parents and professionals repeatedly revise their judgments and reach consensus about the changing developmental, educational, medical and mental health services needs of young children and their families

Bagnato &Neisworth, 1991

Authentic Assessment Bagnato 2009; Bagnato & Neisworth 1999

• Useful for planning intervention (reveals child learning style; helps decide what and how to teach)

• Acceptable to families and professionals (socially valid detecting changes in the home environment as well)

• Authentic using people materials and setting that are familiar to the child not contrived

• Collaborative pulls input from all team members including families and allows for team decision making

• Convergence pooling of several perspectives to form a base of information, (parent report, repeated observation over time etc)

• Equity so that materials accommodate individual differences

• Sensitivity to small increments of change (adequate density of items)

• Congruence materials must be

designed for and field validated with the very children who will be assessed

Mastery • Social Environment--initiate and respond

appropriately to interactions with other people

• Physical Environment--initiate actions upon objects, structures and spaces and take advantage of opportunities by responding appropriately to problems and demands presented by the environment

Hallmarks of the Model • Assessment data from home

and school environments • Individualization of activities

that capitalize on the student’s intrinsic motivations

• Environmental inventory to highlight natural opportunities for learning

• Monitoring of student performance as well as the learning environment

• Strategies target student’s understanding as well as physical demonstration of those skills

Assessing the child

Communication Development

Child’s Skills At Home:

Communication Matrix especially for parents

Child’s Skills at School

Communication Matrix:

I. Preintentional

Behavior

The child’s behavior is not under his own control. It is in reaction to things (such as feeling hungry or wet or sleepy). Parents interpret the child’s state from his general behaviors, such as body movements, facial expressions and sounds.

II. Intentional Behavior

The child’s behavior is now intentional (under the child’s control), but she does not understand that “If I do this, Mom or Dad will do that for me”–in other words she does not communicate intentionally yet. Parents continue to interpret the child’s needs and desires from her behavior, such as body movements, facial expressions, vocalizations and eye gaze.

III. Unconventional Communication

The child uses pre-symbolic behaviors intentionally to express his needs and desires to other people. They are called “unconventional” because they are not socially acceptable for us to use as we grow older: they include body movements, vocalizations, facial expressions and simple gestures (such as tugging on people).

IV. Conventional

Communication

The child uses pre-symbolic behaviors intentionally to express her needs and desire to other people. “Conventional” gestures include behaviors such as pointing and nodding the head “yes”. We continue to use conventional gestures as adults to accompany our language. Note that many of these gestures (and especially pointing) require good visual skills and may not be appropriate for children with severe vision impairment.

V. Concrete Symbols

Symbols physically resemble what they represent in a way that is obvious to the child—they look like, feel like, move like or sound like what they represent. Concrete symbols include picture symbols, objects used as symbols (such as a shoelace to represent “shoe”), certain “iconic” gestures (such as patting a chair to say “sit down”) and sounds (such as making a buzzing sound to refer to a bee). Children with severe physical impairments may access picture and object symbols through the use of a mechanical device or by pointing, touching or eye gaze.

VI.

Abstract Symbols

The child uses abstract symbols such as speech, manual signs, or Brailled or printed words. These symbols do not look, feel, or sound like what they represent. They are used one at a time.

VII. Language

The child combines symbols (any sort of symbols) into ordered two- or three-symbol combinations (“want juice”, “me want juice”), according to grammatical rules. The child understands that the meaning of word combinations may differ depending upon how the symbols are arranged.

www.communicationmatrix.org

Assessing the Child

Concept Skill Development

Child’s Skills At Home: Hands-On Learning

or Home Inventory of

Problem Solving Skills

Child’s Skills at School: Hands-On Learning

Or School Inventory of

Problem Solving Skills

Concept Development

• Physical interaction with objects, structures, spaces

• Understanding how objects inter-relate and how the self relates to objects

Pragmatic Perspective: Functional + Developmental

Approaches Child’s development as revealed through interactions with the physical

environment:

• What is the purpose of the child’s actions?

• What are the cognitive requirements of the child’s actions?

• Is the child aware of the consequences of actions?

Williams & Kamii (1986)

• “It is not the manipulation of objects itself that is important for children’s learning. What is important is the mental action that is encouraged when children act on objects themselves.” (p. 26)

Implications of Hands-On Experiences

Hands-on experiences can serve as a window onto the children’s cognitive abilities.

The ability to interact with objects may provide a key to successful socialization of the young child with multiple and severe disabilities.

Concept Skill Assessment

School Inventory of Problem Solving Skills (SIPSS)

Hands-On Learning at School

Hands-On Learning at School

Two Forms of Instruments

• Home Inventory of Problem Solving Skills (HIPSS)

• School Inventory of Problem Solving Skills (SIPSS)

Vision and Early Development • Vision motivates exploration and independence • Vision provides environmental awareness • Vision provides incentive for communication • Vision facilitates cognitive development

– Giving access to concrete concepts of shape, size and texture… – To more abstract concepts like color and spatial relationships – With limited vision the child develops a concept of “parts” and will

require assistance and hands-on experience in order to appreciate the parts as bleonging to the whole

Source: Holbrook, M.C. & Koening, A.J. (EDs) (2000). Foundations of Education: Volume 1 History and theory of teaching children and youth with visual impairments. (2nd ed.) NY: AFB

Children who are blind or visually impaired often require more “hands-on” …

• Experience • Time • Practice • Guidance ….in order to learn skills source: Morgan E. (ed). Resources for family centered intervention for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers who are

Visually Impaired. Project VIISA (1995) Utah: HOPE Inc.

….. Effective learning through touch rarely takes place in a social vacuum (Mclinden & McCall, 2002)

Stages of interaction in exploration (McLinden and McCall 2002 adapted from McInnes and Treffry 1982)

• Resists

• Tolerates

• Cooperates Passively

• Enjoys

• Responds Cooperatively

• Leads

• Imitates

• Initiates

I. Basic Skills with Objects (sample items)

Most fundamental ways to interact with objects...

• Approach

• Avoid

• Hold

• Release

II. Ways to Gain Access to Objects (sample items)

Solve the problem of how to get a desired object...

• Make Detours

• Remove Barriers

• Open Simple/Complex Containers

• Use Simple/Complex Tools

III. Ways to Use Objects (sample items)

Solve the problem of what to do with an object that has a certain shape, motion or purpose...

• Functional Use of Objects

• Activate Simple/Complex Objects

• Construct/Assemble Objects

Hands On at School

Strand IV. Social Uses

Simple Interactions Cooperating

Playing Games

Hands On Guide

DESIGN TO LEARN

Environmental Inventory of Learning Opportunities

Independence in the child with significant disabilities may be influenced by the

provision of opportunities to learn new skills or use existing skills (Marks 1998) or

by a lack of motivation to use skills the child’s skill level

Design to Learn

• May be used to survey an activity and determine how opportunities to learn or practice sill may be embedded into it

Design to Learn

• Emphasizes strategies that build on motivations, preferences, and affinities

Least spontaneous acts Most spontaneous acts

Controlling Stimuli

Continuum of Spontaneity (J. Halle, 1987)

Key Point: Assessment of the Environment

• The most spontaneous behavior is prompted by natural or internal cues.

Seven Principles for Promoting Functional and Spontaneous Behavior

• Capitalize on the learner’s natural preferences, motivations and affinities.

• Allow the learner as much control as is feasible over his or her environment

• Shift stimulus control of the target behavior toward environmental stimuli that may occur naturally.

• Ensure that the learner has a viable means to communicate that is appropriate to his or her sensory, cognitive and physical abilities.

• Provide the learner with a comfortable and predictable environment for learning.

• Remain alert and available to interact with the learner and to respond to his or her communication.

• Respond to the learner’s communication appropriately, according to his or her intent.

Sections on Design to Learn Inventory

• TRANSITION

• ACTIVITY

• ADULT’S INTERACTION

• STUDENT’S EXPRESSIVE AND RECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• PEER INTERACTION

• OPPORTUNITIES TO COMMUNICATE (parallels Communication Matrix)

• OPPORTUNITIES TO USE OBJECTS (parallels Hands-On)

• MATERIALS