Conducting 3 Year Re-EvaluationsFor Students with Autism

To determine whether is a student is still eligible for specially-designed instruction under the category of autism by:

1) Documenting whether the student still has characteristics in the four eligibility areas

2) Documenting whether the characteristics still have an adverse impact on the student’s education

PURPOSE OF 3 YEAR RE-EVALUATIONS

MEDICAL VS EDUCATIONALMedical Educational

Based on set of Criteria – DSM-IV (May 2013 – DSM-V)

Based on State and Federal Laws (IDEA)

Refers to specific disorder: Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, PDD-NOS

Autism is a disability category.

Used in Private or Medical Settings Used in the public school system.

May be determined by individual or a team.

Must be determined by a team.

Impairments in Communication, Social, and Repetitive/Restricted Behaviors

Impairments in Communication, Social, Repetitive/Restricted Behaviors & Sensory.

The student’s disability must impact his/her education to be eligible under the category of ASD.

Oregon Commission - Chart

ASD Eligibility/Diagnosis – Autism

1. There is no medical test for Autism Spectrum Disorder

2. Medical Diagnosis is based on DSM-IV (May 2013 DSM-V)

3. School Districts are required to use the educational criteria listed in OARs for eligibility under the Special Education Umbrella.

4. Both medical diagnosis and educational eligibility are determined by specific behavioral characteristics associated with ASD.

Education Eligibility Information – Autism

Oregon School District Requirements

1. Autism Spectrum Disorder includes Autism Disorder and Asperger's:

2. Under Educational Eligibility the team must determine: a. The student exhibits characteristics of ASD b. Demonstrate that the characteristics of ASD impact the learning of the child in the educational setting or on development in EI/ECSE and the child needs Specially Designed Instruction.

3. Educational Eligibility is determined with a team of professionals including the parent.

Required Eligibility ComponentsDevelopmental Profile

• Licensed professionals knowledgeable about the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (i.e. Autism Specialist, School Psychologist)

Observations• Licensed professionals knowledgeable about the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (i.e.

Autism Specialist, School Psychologist, Speech- Language Pathologist, Development Pediatrician***; Clinical Psychologist***)

Direct Interactions with the Child• Licensed professionals knowledgeable about the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (i.e.

Autism Specialist, School Psychologist, Speech-Language Pathologist, Pediatrician; Clinical Psychologist)Communication Assessment

• Speech and language pathologist licensed by the State Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology or the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission

Medical or Health Assessment Statement• (1) a physician licensed by a State Board of Medical Examiners, or (2) a nurse practitioner licensed by a State Board

of Nursing, specially certified as a nurse practitioner, or (3) a physician assistant licensed by a State Board of Medical Examiners. Both a nurse practitioner and a physician assistant must be practicing within his or her area of specialty.

Behavior Rating Tool• Licensed professionals knowledgeable about the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (i.e.

Autism Specialist, School Psychologist )Assessment(s) to Determine Impact of Suspected Disability

• Licensed professionals knowledgeable about the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (i.e. Classroom Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Autism Specialist, School Psychologist, Speech-Language Pathologist).

Assessment(s) to Determine Educational Need• Licensed professionals knowledgeable about the behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (i.e.

Classroom Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Autism Specialist, School Psychologist, and Speech-Language Pathologist).

Education Eligibility Evaluation – Autism

Unique Learning Characteristics of individuals with ASD

Impairment in Social Interaction, as exhibited by the following:• marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal

behaviors such as eye-to- eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction

• failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

• a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest)

• lack of social or emotional reciprocity delay or abnormal functioning in symbolic or imaginative play

Technical Assistance Paperhttp://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=289

Unique Learning Characteristics of individuals with ASD

Impairments in Communication as exhibited by the following:

• delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime)

• in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others

• stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language

• lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

Unique Learning Characteristics of individuals with ASD

Restricted Repetitive and Stereotyped Patterns of behavior, Interests, and Activities, as exhibited by the following:

• Preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

• Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

• Stereotyped and repetitive motor manners (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

• Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

Unique Learning Characteristics of individuals with ASD

Unusual Response to Sensory Information (associated features not necessary for medical diagnosis but required for educational eligibility) exhibited by the following:

• Responds in an unusual manner to sounds, taste, pain, light, color, touch, temperature, smells – hypersensitivity (over)

• Responds in an unusual manner to sounds, taste, pain, light, color, touch, temperature, smells – hyposensitivity (under)

• Seeks activities that provide touch, pressure, movement avoids activities that provide touch, pressure, movement

Evaluation Planning Meeting

Purpose:• To review existing information, determine

what new information should be collected and decide what new assessments/evaluation activities will be conducted.

• Fill out Prior Notice about Evaluation/Consent to Evaluate. If parents are in attendance, they can sign it. Otherwise, it must be sent to them. Eligibility meeting must occur within 60 days of signed consent.

Required to attend: SPED teacher, SLP, Teacher

Evaluation Planning Meeting - Tips

• Consider inviting all IEP Team Members including the Autism Consultant. If team members will not be there, then get written input from them on how the disability impacts the student’s education in the four areas.

• Use meeting as an opportunity to conduct file review and parent/teacher interviews. Can document using Autism 3 Year Re-evaluation Planning Meeting Minutes/File Review form

• Review previous 3 year re-eval report(s) – current enough?

File Review

• During Evaluation Planning Meeting the Team will review the file and document characteristics of ASD in all four areas over the last three years on the 3 Year Re-eval Planning Meeting/File Review Form

• Can review: Present Levels IEPs, testing results, other relevant reports/documents from previous three years

Teacher Interview

Options:1) ASD Teacher Interview Checklist: • Forms are listed on LBL ESD ASD Website• Teachers can fill out and turn in by hand or

submit electronically• Teachers can fill out before, during, or after

planning meeting (depending on preference and who is in attendance)

2) Review characteristics from previous 3 year evaluation report and discuss if traits are still manifesting in that way

Parent Interview

Options:1) Parents attend Eval Planning Meeting and give

input about current characteristics (review traits from previous re-eval report).

2) Contact parents if they were not at the Eval Planning and ask if there is any new information regarding characteristics of the four areas of ASD.

Observations/Direct Interactions

• Must have 3 Documented Observations within 6 months of the Eligibility Meeting • Note characteristics of ASD in all 4 areas (social,

communication, sensory, behaviors)• Observations must be on 2 different days across

2 different settings. • SLP or other Service Providers can do one of

the observations.

Functional Communication Assessment

• The speech-language pathologist should develop a profile of the individual’s communication strengths and challenges. In order to accomplish this, the SLP must design and assess situations that will demonstrate an individual’s attempts to communicate.

Focus of the Assessment The assessment should focus on determining how

the individual communicates: Verbally (including pragmatic strengths and

weaknesses) Nonverbally (the ability to use and comprehend

nonverbal language, including atypical or delayed nonverbal communicative behaviors)

Joint attention (the process of sharing one’s experience of observing an object or event, by following gaze or pointing gestures)

Focus on Assessment cont.

• Communication Intent and Functionality• Social Communication Behaviors

The Assessment Should also Identify Critical Social Behaviors

• Initiating interactions• Responds to attempts at interaction• Requests information from a communicative partner• Comments on an activity or an event during an

interaction• Follows routines• Provides or offers information• Understands requests or expectations for

performance

Observations Should Occur Across a Variety of Settings

• With familiar and unfamiliar peers• With familiar and unfamiliar adults• In structured and unstructured situations• In small and large groups• During transitions• During adult and child directed activities• During Preferred and Non preferred activities• During Motor and Language based activities

Examples of Formal Speech/Language (Knowledge not Performance)

• CELF-4• EOWPVT• PPVT-4• OWLS• TOLD-4• CASL• CCC-2 Children’s Communication Checklist-2

Possible Informal Assessments

• Assessment of Social Communication Skills for Children (Quill)

• SCQ- Social Communication Questionnaire• Conversational Effectiveness Profile (Kowalski)• Social Cognitive Assessments (Winner)• Pragmatic Profiles and Checklists

Reports—Write up

• Background Information (i.e., file review, prior interventions and special ed history)

• Assessment Procedures• Assessment Results (Formal and Informal)• Short overall impression• Recommendations • If possible, share the FCA with case manager

before the eligibility meeting

ASD Behavior Rating Tools (Complete 1 Tool)

• Childhood Autism Rating Scale 2-ST/HF (CARS)• Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2)• Krug Asperger’s Disorder Index (KADI)• Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-2 (GARS2)• Gilliam Asperger’s Disorder Scale (GADS)• Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ)

CARS2-ST

PURPOSE:Helps to identify children with autism and determine symptom severity through quantifiable ratings based on direct

observationAGES: 2 years and upADMINISTRATION TIME:

5 to 10 minutes(after the information needed to make the ratings has been collected)

FORMAT:Two 15-item rating scales completed by the clinician (each designed for a different population); and an unscored Parent/Caregiver Questionnaire

SCORES:Cutoff scores, standard scores, and percentiles

SRS-2

PURPOSE:Distinguishes autism spectrum conditions from other child psychiatric conditions by identifying presence and extent of autistic social impairment

AGES: 4 to 18 yearsADMINISTRATION TIME:

15 to 20 minutesFORMAT:

Parent and/or teacher rating scaleNORMS:

Based on a sample of more than 1,600 children and separated by identity of rater (parent or teacher) and gender of child rated

PURPOSE: The KADI helps clinicians distinguish individuals with Asperger's disorder from those who have other forms of high functioning autism.AGES: 6 through 22 years of age. ADMINISTRATION TIME:

Parent/Caregiver/Home/School – 15-20 minutesFORMAT: Rating ScaleNORMS:

The KADI was standardized on a sample of 486 individuals, including 130 previously diagnosed with Asperger's disorder, 162 previously diagnosed with high functioning autism, and 194 considered normal. Data were collected from more than 30 states and 10 countries.

KADI

PURPOSE:The GADS is a norm-referenced assessment designed to evaluate individuals with unique behavior problems who may have Asperger's Disorder.

AGES: 3 through 22 years of age. ADMINISTRATION TIME:

Parent/Caregiver/Home/School – 5-10 minutesFORMAT: Rating ScaleNORMS:

Normed on 371 representative subjects with Asperger's Disorder, the GADS can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of special intervention programs, to target goals for IEPs, and for research purposes.

GADS2

PURPOSE:This revision of the popular Gilliam Autism Rating Scale is

a norm-referenced instrument that assists teachers, parents, and clinicians in identifying and diagnosing autism.

AGES: 3 through 22 years of age. ADMINISTRATION TIME:

Parent/Caregiver/Home/School – 5-10 minutesFORMAT: Rating ScaleNORMS:

The GARS-2 was normed on a representative sample of 1,107 persons with autism from 48 states within the United States. Demographic characteristics of the normative sample are

keyed to the 2000 U.S. Census data. The GARS-2 has strong psychometric characteristics that were confirmed through studies of the test's reliability and validity.

GARS2

PURPOSE:Offers a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to

routinely screen for autism spectrum disorders.AGES: Over 4.0 years, with a mental age over 2.0 years.ADMINISTRATION TIME:

Less than 10 minutes.FORMAT:

Parent questionnaire with 40 yes-or-no items. Current and Lifetime Forms.

SCORES:Total score with cutoff points.

SCQ

Assessment: Impact of ASD/Educational Needs

• Assessments to determine the impact of the disability may include any evaluation, formal or informal, that addresses strengths, weaknesses and educational needs.

• With or without new assessments to measure impact, there needs to be a written impact statement (written in Evaluation Report):

• Sensory• Behaviors• Communication• Social

Medical Statement

• Recommendation that Medical Statement be dated within 6 years.

• The Medical Statement is a legal requirement as part of the eligibility.

• For ASD Purposes we need information on Section 7

Eligibility Meeting

• Review reports/documentation of evaluation activities

• Fill out Statement of Eligibility for Special Education (Autism Spectrum Disorder 82)

Eligibility form:http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=817

ASD 3 Year Re-Eval Report

• Share Report Examples

• Template off the LBL ESD ASD Website

Resources

Technical Assistance Paperhttp://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=289

Oregon Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorderhttp://www.orcommissionasd.org/images/uploads/OCASD_Recommendations_06-2010_Screening.pdf

LBL ESD Websitehttp://www.lblesd.k12.or.us/prog_serv/cascade_regional/

autism_teacher_resources.php