When you look at your child with autism, are you overwhelmed by the deficits they face? Is it difficult to decide where to first expend your limited teaching time and energy? Has your child successfully learned skills which you have no way of documenting or tracking? Are you unsure whether you have made any progress?
We've certainly been there. When we first started working with Krissy, it was very difficult for us to decide what we should be teaching her. Although we had much we could address, her deficits were huge; we didn't know how to prioritize the necessary skills. More importantly, we did not know how to avoid holes in her therapy. We needed to know which skills were core skills, so we could start with the foundation and build on that. Without a system, we also found ourselves working very hard to keep records of what she had learned, so our teaching approach was less than ideal.
Thankfully, before we were too overwhelmed, we were introduced to a book identified as the ABLLS-R. This odd assortment of letters stands for the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills - Revised and it is an essential tool for every parent teaching their child with autism. Ideal because it does not require specialized training to use, the ABLLS-R will provide you with 4 separate assessments of your child.
The two-book set includes the protocol itself as well as a guide with detailed instructions for you. There are 544 assessment tasks in all, covering almost every imaginable skill. Dr. Partington has done careful research on the development of typical children, and the assessment reflects the latest information and critical points.
Because of its breadth expect to spend a number of hours completing each assessment. The more your child knows, the longer the assessment will probably take.
One of the useful features of the assessment is that once you complete it you can easily graph the information onto the included chart. This lets you see at a glance whole areas that may be deficient, rather than just individual skills.
Once your child has successfully finished every level of the assessment, he will be developmentally at about the stage of a typical five year old. This does not mean that your child will have the social skills of a 5 year old, but you will have laid the groundwork necessary for getting there.
The assessments cover four key areas:
Basic Learner Skills Assessment
This, the first and by far the largest portion of the test, covers 15 categories from cooperation and reinforcer effectiveness to imitation and social interaction. The 381 assessment tasks range from requesting items, making sounds, or finding matching items to telling stories, answering novel questions and working only for the accomplishment of task completion.
Academic Skills Assessment
Tests how your child is doing in basic academic skills in 4 categories; math, reading, writing and spelling. Sixty-three assessment tasks in all.
Self-Help Skills Assessment
This portion covers 4 categories: dressing skills, eating skills, grooming and the all- important toileting skills, a total of 42 assessment tasks.
Motor Skills Assessment
Last but not least, assess both fine and gross motor skills with 58
assessment tasks.
You will need a wide variety of objects to compete every assessment, from a ball to scissors to objects for counting and sorting. Thankfully, most items are things you will probably already have on hand, or can substitute for creatively. The ABLLS-R truly is an invaluable resource for anyone working with an autistic child.
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