Mary Vance SPED 414 Final Assignment 12/16/13 Part 1: Curriculum-Based Assessment (AEPS) Identifying Information Childs name:

Harry DOB: 6/17/10 Age: 3 years, 6 months Examiner: Mary Vance Location: Home Date of Assessment: 12/7/13 Date of Report: 12/16/13 Test(s) Used: Social-Communication and Social Language Used: Chinese and some English

Background Information Birth and Medical History - I do not have access to this information. Developmental History - I do not have access to this information. Educational Experiences - Harry attends preschool. He communicates mainly in Chinese at home, so it is often difficult for him to understand what people are saying in English. This makes daily directions at school in English extremely difficult to understand. He and the teachers use pictures in addition to verbal direction to communicate. Harry is shy around new adults, but generally warms up them after a while. He does not interact with his peers. If another child takes Harrys toy, h e does not fight for it, he just lets the child have it and walks away without saying a word. Harry enjoys

participating in cognitive activities such as puzzles or matching blocks. His least favorite activity is writing letters and numbers. His teachers use incentives to get him to accomplish these activities.

Method of Assessment The AEPS tool is a criterion based observational tool across several developmental domains. It is scored with a 0, 1, or 2. The examiner can include written notes and check off things like a report from a family member or assistance provided. The tool can be used multiple times a year to monitor progress. The two developmental areas I administered included the Social Area and the Social-Communication Area. I chose these areas because based on the previous information I had gathered about Harry, I knew that these would be the areas he would need the most improvement in. I wanted to see both the aspects of these areas that were strengths and aspects that could be improved. If I were doing the assessment legitimately, I know that these areas would provide the most information about what goals to make for Harry in his IEP. These areas include sections such as transition to words, comprehension of words and sentences, production of social communicative signals, words, and sentences, and interaction with adults, environment, and peers. The sections share some similar objectives because they are both looking at social skills of the child. The sections show how well the child communicates and interacts with those around him. Results of Assessment Social-communication area: The area raw score was 37 and the area percent score was 40. Harry had many emerging skills and a few skills that he could do

independently. He could independently locate objects, people, without contextual cues and communicate using labels. A few items presented skills Harry has not developed yet: Carrying out one and two-step direction without contextual cues and using three word negative utterances. Social area: The area raw score was 17 and the area percent score was 34. Harry had a few skills emerging and two skills (entertains self by playing appropriately with toys and smiles in response to adult) he could do independently. There were many skills he has not yet developed including initiating and maintain communicative exchange with peers and displaying affection toward a familiar adult. The peer data was based on report from the parents and from his teacher at school. Summary It seems that a strength of Harrys is that he communicates well with familiar adults. He responded well to things said by his mom and me. He had a large vocabulary (in Chinese) and his knowledge of English is growing. He seems to be fine playing on his own. He has no problem entertaining himself with toys. An area of concern is Harrys dislike or apathetic view toward his peers. He does not wish to communicate with them or interact with them. Another area of concern would be following directions without contextual cues.

Part 2: Summary & Critique Conclusions about the child: I learned that Harry has many strengths. He communicates well with adults, especially in Chinese. He is making headway on his English speaking abilities. Harry also succeeds at activities related to the mind and eats well and on his own. Harry

recognizes sounds, people, locations, and he can label them. His goals are to improve his interactions with peers as well as further development of English vocabulary. It seems like he communicates wonderfully at home, but not always at school because of his frequent use of Chinese at home. He is improving, though, and he said many phrases in English to me, so I was very impressed! Comparison and critique of the three assessment methods: The strengths of the family interview are that you get to know the family and learn many details about the child and his routines. A limitation of the family interview is that it can be difficult to gather a lot of information when meeting with people with busy schedules. The family only had a short block of time that I could meet with them. The strength of the environmental assessment was that you could gather data on the childs environments and understand the impacts the environment has on the childs development. A limitation of environmental assessment was that it could be difficult if the child was not one that you had in placement. It made the assessment more of a process because of going to the familys home. It was difficult to schedule a good time for the family and that fit into my schedule as well. A strength of the AEPS is that it covers many areas and is very descriptive about what to look for. It has very thorough instructions on how to score and how to use the data recording form. A limitation of the AEPS is that it if you are working alone, it is difficult to interact with the child and observe and take notes at the same time. I found that had fewer notes than I had when using the AEPS with the group. Another limitation is that it is such a large and detailed packet of forms which can be overwhelming to people. I might use these methods in my future teaching when assessing children with

special needs. I could also use the family interview forms to get to know all families in the class. I could use the environmental assessment to critique my own classroom to make sure it meets the needs of all my students. Your skills as an examiner: A. Information/concepts/skills that you have learned and that you are the most proud about I learned how to become familiar with and successfully use the AEPS assessment tool. I learned about the importance of communication and flexibility in planning times to meet with the family (because the child did not go to my school). I learned about the family and their dynamic. I also found that I am particularly skilled at connecting with children because Harrys mom told me that he does not usually interact well with new adults, but he liked me right away. I think that skill is the one I am most proud of because it is essential in working with children. B. areas/skills you want to continue to work on and improve in the future I want to continue to work on my communication abilities with families. I want to become more skilled at asking questions and obtaining background information because these things really help to get to know a child if you do not get to work with them regularly. Another area I would like to improve is my ability to take down notes more quickly. Maybe I could use some form of shorthand that would allow me to document and remember more details from the assessment. C. what you learned that surprised you the most What I learned that surprised me the most was that the family was extremely helpful and willing to help me in the process. I was worried that they would

be reluctant to meet with me and let me come into their home, but they were not that way at all. They were extremely understanding and made me feel very comfortable throughout the entire process.