Assessment with Children

1
Assessment with Children

• Specific factors to consider

2
Referral source

• Parent
• Teacher/school
• Governmental agency
• DHS
• Court system

3
Test selection

• Referral question
• Developmental considerations
• Appropriateness of tasks and vocabulary
• Age based norms by which to score
• Available sources of information
• Parents
• teachers

4
Collateral ratings

• Reports made by an outside observer about the
  child
• Used to rate across settings
• Problem behaviors
• Language development
• Adjustment/achievement
• Can be used to make placement decisions
• Diagnostic purposes

5
Intelligence scales

• Bayley Scales of Infant Development
• Used to assess current developmental status from
  1 month - 3.5 years
• 3 complementary scales
• Mental Scale
• Motor Scale
• Behavior Rating Scale
• Excellent standardization

6
Personality assessment

• Generally in school aged children and older
• Somewhat stable into adulthood
• Requires level of insight, cooperation, and
  verbal abilities
• Ex MMPI-A
• Scored similarly to MMPI
• Provides similar information

7
Personality Assessment cont.

• Use of projectives
• Roberts Apperception Test
• Similar to TAT
• Rorschach
• Kinetic drawings
• Draw a person
• Draw a family

8
Academic Achievement Tests

• General Achievement Batteries
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement
• Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (K-TEA)
• Peabody Individual Achievement Test Revised
  (PIAT)

9
Behavioral assessments

• Functional analyses
• Useful with externalizing disorders in particular
• Observations
• Naturalistic
• School setting
• In home
• Controlled
• One way mirror
• In waiting area
• With other children
• Siblings, parents

10
Whats next?

• Treatment planning
• Parent training/ psychoeducation
• Consultation with schools
• In home parent-child implementation
• Weekly therapy sessions
• Day treatment
• Inpatient admission
• Medication management