Evaluating and Tracking Your Child’s Progress
In order to evaluate and track your child’s progress, The Shafer Center for Early Intervention offers comprehensive assessments in the following areas:
- Behavior Assessments
- Educational Assessments
- Speech-Language Assessments
- Occupational Therapy Assessments
Behavior Assessments
At The Shafer Center we provide behavior assessments to measure skill development or problem behaviors. When measuring skill development we use tools such as the ABLLS-R or VBMAPPS to assess each child’s current level of functioning and to plan treatment. For problem behaviors we use Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA), functional analysis, and daily observation data which will be used to document performance and develop an individualized Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) for your child.
Educational Assessments
To determine an efficient individual measure of academic achievement, our Special Educators conduct educational assessments (embed a link to Connect XYZ™ page) in the following areas:
- General information
- Reading recognition
- Reading comprehension
- Written expression
- Mathematics
- Spelling
Assessment measures used are ideal for individuals with limited expressive abilities. Our assessments are used to determine both age and grade equivalents, to develop program learning, and to create individualized educational goals.
Speech-Language Assessments
Our speech-language pathologists conduct speech and language assessments and develop individualized goals to identify and address where your child needs support. The type of the assessment will be determined based on your child’s unique needs. Expressive, receptive, articulation, and social-pragmatic skills are assessed.
Occupational Therapy (OT) Assessments
We utilize developmental screening tools and standardized assessments to evaluate a child’s fine motor skills (coloring, cutting), perceptual motor abilities (writing, puzzles), gross motor skills (balance, coordination), self-care, and sensory processing. Similar to our occupational therapy treatment sessions, we attempt to utilize a variety of games and activities to engage the child in the testing process. After an evaluation is complete, parents receive a comprehensive report with testing results, interpretation of results and a treatment plan, including strengths, needs, recommendations and goals. Our evaluations can be used as a resource for all caretakers involved in the child’s life to gain a better understanding of the child, and to help the child succeed in daily life across all contexts.