Assessing Individuals with Disabilities

1
Assessing Individuals with Disabilities

• PSY/SPED 572
• Schroeder

2
Defining Disability

• Medical model
• Focus on impairment
• Sees problems as based in individual
• Adaptation to the disability

• Social model
• Promotes health and resilience
• Sees problems as inherent in society
• Seeks social remedies

3
Legal imperatives

• Bill of Rights for Handicapped Individuals (1973)
  
• Outlawed job discrimination on the basis of
  disability if receiving federal funds
• ADA (1990)
• added private companies to this list
• EAHC (1975)
• Mandated assessment and programs to meet needs
  for educating handicapped children ages 3-18
• IDEA 97
• Amended EAHC and added infants and toddlers to
  list

4
Standard 10

• Some tests may be inappropriate if something
  unrelated to what is being measured is required
  for success and is related to the persons
  disability
• E.g., bubbling an answer sheet if they are still
  able to answer the questions accordingly

5
Assessment and Accommodation

• Changes made to a test for evaluation to be
  completed
• Types of accommodations
• Test format
• Response format
• Changing physical environment
• Changing interpersonal environment
• Timing
• Using parts of a test
• Using alternate tests

6
Unchanged Test
7
Accommodations
8
Modifications
9
Standard 10

• It is not always appropriate to accommodate
• When skill is what is being measured
• E.g., a blind person taking a driving test
• When disability does not impact persons ability
  to take the exam successfully
• E.g., math disability but can read and write well
  taking a reading exam

10
Decisions about making accommodations

• Capabilities of assessee
• Capabilities of assessor
• Purpose of assessment
• Diagnostic vs. intervention related
• Uses of scores
• Can you use the norms? Do you need to?
• Unfair advantage (esp. extra time)
• Reliability and validity
• Are we changing what is being measured

11
What are your opinions about flagging
accommodated test scores? What do the Standards
say?
12
Assessment Specific Disabilities

• For all disabilities
• What is the impact of the impairment? What does
  the individual able to do and need assistance
  with?
• Is fatigue going to be a factor (body fatigue,
  eye fatigue)?

13
Assessment Specific Disabilities

• As a group highlight the main points related to
  your assigned disability
• Visual impairments
• Hearing impairments
• Visual/hearing impairments
• Motor impairments

14
Assessment Specific Disabilities

• Cognitive Disabilities
• Intellectual functioning
• Adaptive behavior
• Vineland
• Domains of adaptive behavior
• Daily living
• Socialization
• Motor function
• Communication

15
Psychological/social variables impacting
individuals with disabilities

• Fatalism (external locus of control)
• Predicts illness and cognitive difficulties
• Self-efficacy
• Belief in own ability to accomplish task
• Social support

16
How might other types of diversity interact with
disability issues?