Assessment
Contents
The Psychoeducational Profile Revised (PEP-R)
Schopler, Eric, Robert Jay Reichler, Ann Bashford, Margaret D. Lansing, Lee M. Marcus. The Psychoeducational Profile Revised (PEP-R). Austin: Pro-Ed, 1990.
The PEP-R is a nice assessment and program planning tool for preschool and gradeschool-aged children with autism. The test covers a variety of key developmental areas and can help the give one a better picture of the, sometimes sporadic, developmental patterns of children with autism. The test items are presented with simple, concrete instructions, and most of the expected responses are nonverbal.
The PEP-R is the first part of a four volume set, Individualized Assessment and Treatment for Autistic and Developmentally Disabled Children. The third volume of this set, Teaching Activities for Autistic Children meshes well with the PEP-R assessment, providing ideas for teaching skills and behaviors in those areas where a child may exhibit some deficit.
A description from volume one of the PEP-R:
The PEP-R is an inventory of behaviors and skills designed to identify uneven and idiosyncratic learning patterns. The test is most appropriately used with children functioning at of below the preschool range and within the chronological age range of 6 months to 7 years. If a child is older than 7 but younger than 12 years, the PEP-R can provide useful information when at least some developmental skills are at or below the first-grade level. After 12 years of age, a prevocational evaluation using the Adolescent and Adults Psychoeducational Profile (AAPEP) (Mesihov, Schopler, Shaffer, & Landrus, 1988) is recommended.
Used as an assessment, the PEP-R provides information on developmental functioning in Imitation, Perception, Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Eye-Hand Integration, Cognitive Performance, and Cognitive Verbal areas. The PEP-R also identifies degrees of behavioral abnormality in Relating and Affect (cooperation and human interest), Play and Interest in Materials, Sensory Responses, and Language.
The PEP-R kit consists of a set of toys and learning materials that are presented to a child within structured play activities. The examiner observes, evaluates, and records the child's responses during the test. Then, at the end of the session, the child's scores are distributed among seven Developmental and four Behavioral areas. The resulting profiles depict a child's relative strengths and weaknesses in different areas of development and behavior.
Rather than evaluating a child using only Passing or Failing scores, the PEP-R provides a third and unique score called Emerging. A response scored Emerging is one that indicates some knowledge of what is required to complete a task, but not the full understanding or skill necessary to do so successfully. A child may demonstrate a sense of what a task is about or even partially complete it, but do so in a peculiar way. These kinds of responses are scored as Emerging.
Autism involves not only developmental delays but atypical behaviors. The strength of the PEP-R is that it looks at both of these aspects. The Developmental Scale tells where a child is functioning relative to peers. The items on the Behavioral Scale have the separate but related assessment function of identifying responses and behaviors consistent with a diagnosis of autism. These categories and measures are based on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) (Schopler et al., 1988) designed to screen for and diagnose autism.
The total number of unusual, or dysfunctional behaviors are quantified qualified, indicating the severity of a child's behavioral difficulties. Behaviors are scored as Appropriate, Mild, or Severe. The items on the Behavioral Scale are not norm-referenced like those on the Developmental Scale; these particular behaviors, in their mild or extreme forms, are abnormal for children at any age. Scores from the Behavioral Scale can be useful for tracking behavioral changes over time and making decisions on how to group youngsters in a classroom.
In addition to its unique scoring system, the underlying use of the PEP-R differs from most psychological instruments. This inventory is designed as an educational tool for planning individualized special educational programs. There are three companion volumes to the PEP-R in the series called Individualized Assessment and Treatments for Autistic and Developmentally Disabled Children, Volumes 2 and 3, Teaching Strategies for Parents and Professionals (Schopler, Reichler, & Lansing, 1980) and Teaching Activities for Autistic Children (Schopler, Lansing, & Waters, 1983) are collections of individualized teaching activities, indexed according to the seven PEP-R developmental function areas. Volume 4, Adolescent and Adult Psychoeducational Profile (AAPEP) (Mesibov et al., 1988), extends the PEP-R to meet the needs of adolescents and adults.
The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills
Sundberg, Mark L. and James. W. Partington. The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (The ABLLS): An assessment, curriculum guide, and skills tracking system for children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavioral Analysts, Inc., 1998.
The Assessment of Basic Langauge and Learning Skills (or ABLLS, often pronounced "ables") is a comprehensive, behavioral assessment tool based on Skinner's 1957 Analysis of Verbal Behavior.
The ABLLS goes hand in hand with Sundberg and Partington's Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities, a guide to verbal-behavior based instruction. The assessment provides guidance in running, scoring, and interpreting the assessment, as well as in designing an intervention curriculum based on the results.
The ABLLS assesses behaviors in 26 domains:
- Cooperation and Reinforcer Effectiveness
- Visual Performance
- Receptive Language
- Imitation
- Vocal Imitation
- Requests
- Labeling
- Intraverbals
- Spontaneous Vocalizations
- Syntax and Grammar
- Play and Leisure
- Social Interaction
- Group Instruction
- Following Classroom Routines
- Generalized Responding
- Reading Skills
- Math Skills
- Writing Skills
- Spelling
- Dressing Skills
- Eating Skills
- Grooming
- Toileting Skills
- Gross Motor Skills
- Fine Motor Skills
