Assessment

As a team supporting a student with ASD, it is important to consider what skills the student needs to learn. To thoroughly determine this, the team will likely need to assess the student. Assessment can be formal or informal in order to determine skill deficits. The assessment process will yield information that can then be used to guide instruction and develop goals and objectives for the student's IEP.

When choosing an assessment, it is important to understand the characteristics and requirements of the assessment. Even within the category of Communication, assessments serve different purposes. It will be important for the team to ask the following questions to determine if the chosen assessment(s) meets the needs of the student and the team:

Will the assessment yield objective and discrete data for goal development?
Will the assessment provide information about the student's actual skills and knowledge?
Will the assessment provide information about the student's functional performance?
Will the assessment yield data that allows progress to be tracked?
Is the assessment appropriate for the characteristics of the student?
Is the assessment appropriate for the abilities of the student?
Can the assessment be completed with accommodations or modifications that won't invalidate or change the intent of what was assessed?
Is someone qualified and familiar with the student available to administer the assessment?
Can the assessment be administered within a reasonable amount of time?

Informal Assessment

Assessments provide information about the strengths and deficits of a student’s communication abilities. However, formal assessments often take time to complete and often do not yield appropriate information that leads to meaningful goal development for the student with ASD.

When developing communication goals, the educational team can supplement formal assessment results with informal assessment. These include screeners or other tools such as interviews, inventories, or data collection measures.

Formal (standardised) assessment	Informal assessment
Objective measurement: Provides consistency across examiners and settings.	Subjective measurement: Different examiners may judge strengths and difficulties differently.
Provides a standardised set of scores.	Results are usually qualitative in nature e.g. examiner’s comments.
Provides a means of interpreting scores e.g. averages, percentile ranks, standard scores.	Scores cannot be compared to a normative sample.
Most standardised assessments can be used a clear measurement of change before and after intervention.	Informal assessment tends to be a less objective measurement of progress over time.
Small improvements in skills may not be reflected in test scores.	Small improvements can be observed and noted.
Some skills and strengths may be missed as they are not included in assessment items.	All skills and strengths can be observed and noted.
Performance may be negatively affected by the stress of formal procedures and time limits.	Assessment tends to be more relaxed and does not have time limits for tasks.
Assessments tend to be carried out in formal settings and artificial scenarios.	Assessment can be carried out in natural (real life) settings and scenarios.
Limited flexibility allowed so assessment cannot be adapted to suit individual’s learning style.	Assessment can be adapted to suit the learning style of the individual.
Assessment kits usually provide all the materials required for the assessment.	Materials will need to be gathered for the assessment.
Assessment kits are often expensive.	No or minimal cost for assessment.