CARD Diagnostic Services and Assessment Center

The CARD Austin office is excited to announce the addition of diagnostic evaluations to the many services provided by the agency. Evaluations include a records review, an interview with the child's caregivers, and behavior observations. In addition, CARD offers a variety of diagnostic tools including the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition (GARS-2), and Gilliam Asperger's Disorders Scale (GADS) to supplement our diagnostic evaluations. Following the evaluation, CARD will generate a report including assessment results, diagnosis, and recommendations for the child, family, and service providers. While CARD Assessment Center will provide the necessary documentation for billing of third parties, including insurance companies, it is the responsibility of the client or client's guardian to ensure timely payment of all services.

The CARD Assessment Center provides developmental assessments and consultations for children, adolescents, and young adults. Developmental evaluations provide useful diagnostic and prognostic information in a wide variety of suspected and confirmed neurological and psychiatric disorders that can then be used to develop tailored treatment programs if necessary.

Through the use of standardized tests and procedures, developmental assessments are used to evaluate many areas of functioning. They can test intelligence (e.g., IQ) and achievement, but also areas of functioning that impact performance in school, relationships with family and friends, and behaviors in the home and community.


Functional areas the CARD Assessment Center evaluates:

  • Auditory and visual processing
  • Cognitive Functioning
  • Attention
  • Learning Abilities/Academic skills
  • Executive Functioning (e.g., planning, problem solving
  • Language
  • Visual-Spatial Skills
  • Memory
  • Adaptive Functioning
  • Motor Skills
  • Intelligence
  • Speed of Processing
  • Planning and organization
  • Behavioral Functioning


Why get an evaluation?
One of the most common reasons for getting an evaluation is that someone is experiencing difficulty functioning in one or more areas (e.g., school, peers). Typically, assessments are administered to diagnose or rule out developmental disabilities or to establish a baseline from which educational programs can be derived.

Conditions for which assessments may be necessary:
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Gifted Assessment
  • Memory Disorders
  • Language Disorders
  • Learning Disabilities
  • Attention Deficit Disorders

What should you expect during an assessment?
In order to facilitate a better understanding of our clients' strengths and weaknesses, the CARD Assessment Center teams evaluation process consists of the following steps:

  • Initial Paperwork/Background Information Collection - Completion of initial paperwork, including medical and educational history
  • Testing Session(s) - The number and type of tests administered is dependent on the individual's needs. There is no set battery of tests for all. When establishing a testing schedule, CARD assessors will also take into consideration the individual's age, attention span, and issues related to fatigue.
  • Written Report - A formal report is generated and distributed to parents and authorized individuals.
  • Feedback Session - Test results are discussed and recommendations are made.

Payment Policy & Fees
While CARD Assessment Center will provide the necessary documentation for billing of third parties, including insurance companies, it is the responsibility of the client or clien's guardian to ensure timely payment of all services.

Please contact Michael S. Allen, Psy.D. at (866) 833-3898, Ext. 106, or m.allen@centerforautism.com to schedule an appointment or to address any questions you might have about the CARD Assessment Center.

ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTIONS
In an assessment battery, measures are selected based on each child's unique needs. Below is a list of measures that may be used during an assessment. Please note that this list is not inclusive of all assessment measures that may be used with your child. Additionally, the administration times listed are estimates and may not be representative of the actual time it takes for your child to complete testing measures.

DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATIONS

AUTISM DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW, REVISED (ADI-R)
(Rutter, LeCouteur, & Lord, 2003)
The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is useful for formal diagnosis as well as treatment and educational planning. To administer the ADI-R, an experienced clinical interviewer questions a parent or caretaker who is familiar with the developmental history and current behavior of the individual being evaluated. Composed of 93 items, the ADI-R focuses on three functional domains:
  • Language and Communications
  • Reciprocal Social Interactions
  • Restricted, Repetitive, and Stereotypes Behaviors and Interests

Age Range: Children and adults with a mental age above 2 years
Administration Time: 1.5 hours - 2+ hours

AUTISM DIAGNOSTIC OBSERVATION SCHEDULE (ADOS)
(Lord, Rutter, DiLavore, & Risi, 1999)
This semi-structured assessment can be used to evaluate almost anyone suspected of having autism--from toddlers to adults, from children with no speech to adults who are verbally fluent. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) consists of various activities that allow you to observe social and communication behaviors related to the diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders. These activities provide interesting, standard contexts in which interaction can occur.
Age Range: Toddler - adult
Administration Time: 35 - 45 minutes

C.A.R.D. AUTISM SYMPTOMS QUESTIONNAIRE (C.A.R.D. ASQ)
(Granpeesheh, Talei, & Yoo, 2007)
The C.A.R.D. Autism Symptoms Questionnaires (ASQ) was developed to assist healthcare practitioners efficiently and correctly diagnose Autistic Disorder (299.00), Asperger's Disorder (299.80), or Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) (299.80). Specifically, the ASQ aids in determining if an individual presents symptoms that are characteristic of and adequate to meet the diagnostic criteria for the aforementioned disorders. The ASQ is divided into three categories to complement the diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Specifically, children with Autistic Disorder have difficulties and/or delays in Social Interaction, Communication, and Stereotyped Behaviors.
Age Range: 2 years - adult
Administration Time: 15 minutes

C.A.R.D. SKILLS Index
(2007)
Before beginning to provide therapy, your child may be assessed using the C.A.R.D. SKILLS Index to determine what the child needs to learn during ABA-based intervention. The SKILLS Index is a compilation of developmental skills organized by age level and listed in chronological order of one year ranges of development (e.g., 0-12 mos, 1 -2 yrs.) across eight domains (Language, Motor, Adaptive, Cognition, Executive Functions, Social Skills, Play, and School Skills). The SKILLS Index is administered by asking a parent of each child to answer whether his/her child exhibits each skill listed. The parent can answer "yes," "no," or "unsure" into a computerized database. Then, the child's supervisor begins probing skills based on the answers given by the child's parents and continues to update the database as information is obtained from probing and as the child masters skills through his / her ABA-based program.
Age Range: 0 - 7 years, 11 months
Administration Time: 8 - 10 hours

CHILDHOOD AUTISM RATING SCALE (CARS)
(Schopler, Reichler, DeVellis, & Daly, 1980)
This scale is used to assess children suspected of having an autism or PDD diagnosis. This scale evaluates 15 dimensions of behavior on a scale of 1-4, 1 being age appropriate and 4 being severely abnormal. Listed below are the 15 dimensions.

  1. Relationships with people
  2. Imitation (verbal and motoric)
  3. Affect
  4. Use of body
  5. Relation to non-human objects
  6. Adaptation to environmental change
  7. Visual responsiveness
  8. Auditory responsiveness
  9. Near receptor responsiveness
  10. Anxiety reaction
  11. Verbal communication
  12. Non-verbal communication
  13. Activity level (motility patterns)
  14. Intellectual functioning
  15. General impression

Age Range: 24 months of age and up
Administration Time: 30-45 minutes

CHECKLIST FOR AUTISM IN TODDLERS (CHAT)
(Baron-Cohen, Allen, & Gillberg, 1992)
This test focuses on five key types of behavior at 18 months of age. These behaviors are: pretend play, protodeclarative pointing, joint-attention, social interest, and social play. Later research predicted that children who failed three items (protodeclarative pointing, gaze monitoring, and pretend play) would be at risk for receiving a diagnosis of autism and that those children who failed one or two key items (either pretend play or protodeclarative pointing and pretend play) would be at risk for a diagnosis of developmental delay without autism. Age Range: 18 months and up Administration Time: 30 minutes

GILLIAM ASPERGER'S DISORDER SCALE (GADS)
(Gilliam, 2002)
Based on the most current and relevant definitions and diagnostic criteria of Asperger's Disorder, the Gilliam Asperger's Disorder Scale (GADS) is useful for contributing valuable information toward the identification of children who have this disorder.
Age Range: 3 - 22 years
Administration Time: 45 minutes

GILLIAM AUTISM RATING SCALE – SECOND EDITION (GARS-II)
(Gilliam, 2006)
Gilliam Autism Rating Scale – Second Edition (GARS-II) is a diagnostic tool helpful in estimating the severity of the child's disorder, based on the definitions of autism adopted by the Autism Society of America and the DSM-IV-TR (2000). The GARS-II consists of 42 items describing the characteristic behaviors of persons with autism and includes three subscales: Stereotyped Behaviors, Communication, and Social Interaction.
Age Range: 3 - 22 years
Administration Time: 45 minutes


INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS

DIFFERENTIAL ABILITIES SCALES (DAS)
(Elliot, 1990)
The DAS measures conceptual and reasoning abilities. It includes a preschool level and a school age level and comprises 17 cognitive and 3 achievement subtests. It measures General Conceptual Ability, Verbal and Nonverbal Ability for the Preschool subsets, and Verbal, Nonverbal Reasoning, and Spatial Ability for the School-Age subtests. For language-impaired and non-English-speaking children, a Special Nonverbal score may be obtained. The DAS is also a measure of basic academic skills. Achievement subtests are Basic Number Skills, Spelling, and Word Reading.
Age Range: 30 months - 17 years
Administration Time: 3 hours

LEITER INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE SCALE - REVISED (LIPS-R)
(Roid & Miller, 1997)
The goal of this instrument is to construct a non-verbal measure of intellectual ability, memory, and attention that could be used to assess children, adolescents, and young adults who could not reliably and validly be assessed with traditional intelligence tests.
Age Range: 2 years - 20 years, 11 months
Administration Time: 2 hours

MERRILL-PALMER-REVISED SCALES OF DEVELOPMENT (M-P-R)
(Roid & Sampers, 2004)
The Merrill-Palmer-Revised Scales of Development (M-P-R) was designed specifically to assess the five domains required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), providing both a global assessment as well as individual scores for each IDEA-required domain. The instrument provides normative standard scores, percentiles, and age equivalence and criterion-referenced growth scores that are sensitive to change for the five IDEA domains. Also provided is an Overall Developmental Index for all assessment scales related to intellectual functioning and additional measures of social-emotional functioning. The M-P-R is an appropriate instrument to utilize for many children with autism because it is a nonverbal measure of a child's cognitive, language, social, adaptive, and motor skills.

The M-P-R consists of the following test batteries:

  1. The Cognitive Battery: Includes a Cognitive Scale (distinguishing between fluid and crystallized intelligence), Fine Motor Scale, and Infant Language/Receptive Language Scale. Supplemental scales assess memory, processing speed, and visual-motor coordination.
  2. The Gross Motor Battery: Includes gross motor following IDEA recommendations for a scale of gross motor skills. Also includes items assessing for movement quality and unusual movement.
  3. Parent Report Forms: Questionnaires completed by caregivers assessing social-emotional development, temperament, self-help skills, and expressive language.
  4. Additional Examiner's Scales: Assesses test-taking behavior, social-emotional problem indicators, and expressive language.

Age Range: 1 month - 6 and a half years
Administration Time: varies based on items utilized.

WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN - FOURTH EDITION (WISC-IV) (Wechsler, 2003)
This is an individually administered clinical instrument for assessing the cognitive ability of children. The Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) includes the following four composite scores:

  • Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)
  • Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI)
  • Working Memory Index (WMI)
  • Processing Speed Index (PSI)

Age Range: 6 years, 0 months - 16 years, 11 months
Administration Time: 2 - 3 hours

WECHSLER PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCALE OF INTELLIGENCE - THIRD EDITION (WPPSI-III)
(Wechsler, 2002)
The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Third Edition (WPPSI-III) assesses the cognitive ability of children. It contains various subtests which yield a Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, Processing Speed Quotient, and General Language Composite.
Age Range: 2 years 6 months - 7 years 3 months
Administration Time: 2-3 hours

DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENTS BAYLEY SCALES OF INFANT AND TODDLER DEVELOPMENT - THIRD EDITION (Bayley-III)
(Bayley, 2006)
This tool's primary purposes are to identify children with developmental delay and to provide information for treatment planning. The Bayley-III assesses infant and toddler development across five domains: Cognitive, Language, Motor, Social-Emotional, and Adaptive.
Age Range: 1 - 42 months
Administration Time: 50-90 minutes

BRIGANCE DIAGNOSTIC INVENTORY OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT - SECOND EDITION (IED-II)
(Brigance, 2004)
The Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development – Second Edition (IED-II) is intended for informal assessment of several aspects of child development and is for children functioning at developmental levels from birth to seven years of age. The IED-II assesses children on their performance across over 200 skills within the following 11 developmental domains: preambulatory motor, gross motor, fine motor, self-help, speech and language, general knowledge and comprehension, social and emotional development, readiness, basic reading skills, manuscript writing, and basic math.
Age Range: 0 - 7 years
Administration Time: 3 hours

THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROFILE II (DP-II)
(Alpern, Boll, & Shearer, 2000)
The Developmental Profile II is a comprehensive assessment of motor, language, personal/self-help, social, and intellectual development. The format is a 186-item inventory designed to assess a child's functional, developmental age level. The test may be administered either in interview format to the parent, as a combination of parent interview and direct testing of the child, or as a self-interview completed by a teacher.
Age Range: 0 - 7 years for typically-developing children and for developmentally-delayed children of any age when their skills are not expected to extend beyond the 9 year ceiling.
Administration Time: 20-40 minutes

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR

VINELAND ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR SCALES - SECOND EDITION (Vineland-II)
(Sparrow & Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005)
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales – Second Edition (Vineland-II) aids in diagnosing and classifying mental retardation and other disorders, such as autism, Asperger Syndrome, and developmental delays. The content and scales of Vineland-II were organized within a three domain structure: Communication, Daily Living, and Socialization. This structure corresponds to the three broad Domains of adaptive functioning recognized by the American Association of Mental Retardation (AAMR, 2002): Conceptual, Practical, and Social. In addition, Vineland-II offers a Motor Skills Domain and an optional Maladaptive Behavior Index to provide more in-depth information about your child.
Age Range: 0 - 18 years
Administration Time: 20 - 60 minutes

VISUAL-MOTOR

BEERY-BUKTENICA DEVELOPMENTAL TEST OF VISUAL-MOTOR INTEGRATION - FIFTH EDITION (BEERY VMI-5)
(Beery, Buktenica, & Beery, 2004)
The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration - Fifth Edition (BEERY VMI-5) helps assess the extent to which individuals can integrate their visual and motor abilities. The Short Format and Full Format tests present drawings of geometric forms arranged in order of increasing difficulty that the individual is asked to copy.
Age Range: 3 years to adult
Administration Time: 20 - 30 minutes

PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL

PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL PROFILE - THIRD EDITION (PEP- 3)
(Schopler, Reichler, Lansing and Marcus, 2005)
The Psychoeducational Profile - Third Edition (PEP-3) assesses skills and behaviors of children with autism and communicative disabilities who function between the ages of 6 months and 7 years. The PEP-3 administration graphically represents uneven development, emerging skills, and autistic behavioral characteristics. This instrument evaluates the learning problems of children with autism spectrum disorder and related communication disorders, and it provides data that can be used to plan behavioral interventions and education programs. The test yields 3 composite scores (Communication, Motor, and Maladaptive Behaviors) and features 10 Performance Subtests:

  • Cognitive Verbal/Preverbal
  • Expressive Language
  • Receptive Language
  • Fine Motor
  • Gross Motor
  • Visual-Motor Imitation
  • Affective Expression
  • Social Reciprocity
  • Characteristic Motor Behaviors
  • Characteristic Verbal Behaviors

Age Range: 6 months - 7 years
Administration Time: 45-90 minutes

SPEECH & LANGUAGE

CLINICAL EVALUATION OF LANGUAGE FUNDAMENTALS - FOURTH EDITION (CELF-4)
(Semel, Wiig, Secord, 2003)
The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Fourth Edition (CELF-4) is used to identify individuals who lack the basic foundations of content and form that characterize mature language use. This instrument evaluates language and determines whether or not a language disorder is present. Once it is determined that the child has a language disorder you can choose from several paths in order to evaluate:

  • The nature of the disorder (strengths/needs, affected modalities, content areas, conditions that enable the student to perform well)
  • The underlying clinical behaviors (working memory, automaticity of speech production, phonological awareness)
  • How the disorder affects the student's classroom performance (authentic assessment with the Observational Rating Scale and Pragmatics Profile)

Age Range: 5 - 21 years
Administration Time: 30-45 minutes


CLINICAL EVALUATION OF LANGUAGE FUNDAMENTALS - PRESCHOOL (CELF-P) (Wiig, Secord, & Semel, 1992)
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Preschool (CELF-P) is a measure a broad range of expressive and receptive language skills in preschool and early elementary-aged children.
Age Range: 3 - 6 years
Administration Time: 2 hours

GOLDMAN-FRISTOE-WOODCOCK - TEST OF AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION
(Goldman, Fristoe, &Woodcock, 1970)
The Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock - Test of Auditory Discrimination was designed to provide measures of speech-sound discrimination ability, relatively unconfounded by other factors. It provides a measure of auditory discrimination under ideal listening conditions plus a comparative measure of auditory discrimination in the presence of a controlled background noise. This test is used for Fast ForWord Assessments.
Age Range: 2 - 21 years
Administration Time: 15 minutes

PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST - THIRD EDITION (PPVT-III)
(Dunn & Dunn, 1997)
This is a non-verbal, multiple-choice test designed to evaluate the hearing, vocabulary, or receptive knowledge of individuals from age 2 years, 6 months through adulthood. This test is not timed and requires no reading ability. The physical abilities required are adequate hearing and the ability to indicate yes/no in some manner. Neither a pointing nor an oral response is necessary.
Age Range: 2 years, 6 months - 90 years
Administration Time: 15 minutes

PRESCHOOL LANGUAGE SCALE - FOURTH EDITION (PLS - 4)
(Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2005)
The Preschool Language Scale (PLS-4) was developed as a diagnostic instrument of language development for young children. This tool screens for a broad spectrum of speech and language skills. Age Range: birth - 6 years, 11 months
Administration Time: 15 to 30 minutes

ROSSETTI INFANT-TODDLER LANGUAGE SCALE
(Rossetti, 1990)
The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale was designed to assess preverbal and verbal areas of communication and interaction including: interaction-attachment, pragmatics, gesture, play, language comprehension and language expression. The results from this assessment tool reflect the childss mastery of skills in each of the areas assessed at three-month intervals.
Age Range: 0 – 3 years
Administration Time: 10 - 30 minutes

TEST OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: INTERMEDIATE - THIRD EDITION (TOLD-I:3) (Hammill & Newcomer, 1997)
This test aims to assess the understanding and meaningful use of spoken language and aspects of grammar. This test is used for Fast ForWord Assessments.
Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Administration Time: 60 minutes

TEST OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: PRIMARY - THIRD EDITION (TOLD-P:3) (Newcomer & Hammill, 1997)
The Test of Language Development: Primary – Third Edition (TOLD - P:3) was designed to measure language from a linguistic frame of reference. This test is used for Fast ForWord Assessments.
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Administration Time: 40 minutes

 

PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE

TEST OF PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE - SECOND EDITION (TOPL-2)
(Phelps-Terasaki & Phelps-Gunn, 2007)
The Test of Pragmatic Language – Second Edition (TOPL-2) is an individually administered test for a comprehensive assessment of a child's ability to effectively use pragmatic language. Pragmatic language is language that is used socially to achieve goals, involving not only what is said, but also why and for what purpose something is said.
Age Range: 6 - 18 years

SOCIAL SKILLS/PLAY

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT INVENTORY (SBAI)
(Stephens & Arnold, 1992)
The Social Behavior Assessment Inventory (SBAI) is a 136-item curriculum-based teacher rating instrument that measures the performance level of social behaviors of children in a classroom setting. Four areas of social behaviors are assessed: Environmental Behavior, Interpersonal Behaviors, Self-Related Behaviors, and Task-Related Behaviors.
Age Range: Grades K - 9th
Administration Time: 30 - 45 minutes

SOCIAL SKILLS RATING SYSTEM (SSRS)
(Gresham & Elliot, 1990)
The Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) allows for a comprehensive evaluation of teacher report, parent report, and child of social behaviors. It includes the areas of social skills (cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, self-control), problem behaviors (external, internal, hyperactivity), and academic competence.
Age Range: 3 - 18 years A
Administration Time: 25 minutes
Administration Time: 60 minutes

SOCIAL RESPONSIVENESS SCALE (SRS)
(Constantino & Gruber, 2005)
The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) measures the severity of autism spectrum symptoms as they occur in natural social settings. It is a quantitative measure of a child's social impairments, assessing social awareness, social information processing, capacity for reciprocal social communication, social anxiety/avoidance, and autistic preoccupations and traits.
Age Range: 4 - 18 years
Administration Time: 15 - 20 minutes

SYMBOLIC PLAY SCALE
(Westby, 1991)
The Symbolic Play Scale provides an overview of the development of symbolic play in children.
Age Range: 18 months - 6 years
Administration Time: 1 hour

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING/NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

BEHAVIOR RATING INVENTORY OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION - PRESCHOOL VERSION (BRIEF-P)
(Gioia, Espy, & Isquith, 2003)
The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool Version (BRIEF-P) is specifically designed to measure the range of executive functioning in preschool aged children. Parents, teachers, and day care providers complete the 63-item form to rate a child's executive functions within the context of his or her everyday environments (home and preschool). It measures the following aspects of executive functioning: inhibit, working memory, shift, plan/organize, and emotional control.
Age Range: 2 years - 5 years, 11 months
Administration Time: 10 - 15 minutes

BEHAVIOR RATING INVENTORY OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (BRIEF)
(Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000)
The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) assesses executive function in children and adolescents. The BRIEF is useful in evaluating children with a wide range of developmental and acquired neurological conditions such as learning disabilities, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, low birth weight, Tourette's Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders/Autism. The BRIEF consists of two rating forms--a Parent questionnaire and a Teacher questionnaire--designed to assess executive functioning in the home and school environments.
Age Range: 5 - 18 years
Administration Time: 30 minutes

CHILDREN'S COLOR TRAILS TEST (CCTT)
(Llorente, Williams, Satz, & D'Elia, 2003)
The Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT) assesses sustained attention, sequencing, and other executive functions while reducing reliance on language and diminishing the effects of cultural bias and parental verbal report. The CCTT is appropriate for testing children within cross-cultural contexts and with children with special needs.
Age Range: 8 - 16 years
Administration Time: 5 - 7 minutes

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT (NEPSY)
(Korkman, Kirk, & Kemp, 1997)
The Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY) is a battery of tests designed to identify neuropsychological deficits that interfere with learning. The NEPSY measures 5 complex cognitive functional domains: attention/executive, language, sensorimotor, visuospatial processing and memory & learning.
Age Range: 3 - 12 years
Administration Time: 2 - 3 hours

THE AUDITORY SEQUENTIAL MEMORY TEST
(Wepman & Morency, 1973)
The Auditory Sequential Memory Test is designed to assess ability to repeat from immediate memory an increasing series of digits.
Age Range: 5 - 8 years
Administration Time: 20 minutes

TEST OF AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION (ADT)
(Reynolds, 1987)
This test is used to measure the child's ability to hear spoken language accurately. The test consists of 40 word pairs matched for familiarity, length, and phonetic category. Ten of the words do not differ, whereas 30 pairs differ in a single phoneme. The examiner reads each pair, and the child must indicate whether the words are the same or different.
Age Range: 4 years, 0 months - 8 years, 11 months
Administration Time: 5 - 10 minutes

THE STROOP COLOR AND WORD TEST
(Golden, 1978)
The Stroop Color and Word Test targets inhibition, mental vitality, and flexibility by measuring the speed and accuracy of reading single words (blue, green, yellow), recognizing and naming blocks of color (red, yellow, green), and naming the color that a word is written in regardless of the content of the word (e.g., "green" is presented and the answer is "yellow" - the color that the word is written in).
Age Range: 5 - 14 years (children's version) and 15 years and up (adult version)
Administration Time: 5 minutes

TEST OF PROBLEM SOLVING, ELEMENTARY & ADOLESCENT-REVISED (TOPS-R)
(Bowers, Huisingh, Barrett, Orman, & LoGiudice, 1994)
The Test of Problem Solving, Elementary & Adolescent - Revised (TOPS-R) assesses how children use language to think, reason, and solve problems. It uses age-appropriate tasks to determine strengths and weaknesses in a number of areas: clarifying, analyzing, generating solutions, empathizing, affective thinking, using context cues and vocabulary comprehension.
Age Range: 6 - 11 years (elementary), 12 - 17 years (adolescent)
Administration Time: 35 - 40 minutes

WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST
(Grant & Berg, 1993)
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test assesses perseveration and abstract thinking. It allows the clinician to assess the following frontal lobe functions: strategic planning, organized searching, utilizing environmental feedback to shift cognitive sets, directing behavior toward achieving a goal, and modulating impulsive responding.
Age Range: 6 years, 5 months - 89 years
Administration Time: 20 - 3

TREATMENT EVALUTION

AUTISM TREATMENT EVALUATION CHECKLIST (ATEC)
(Rimland & Edelson, 1999)
The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) is a one-page form consisting of 4 subtests. The ATEC is designed to assist parents, physicians and researchers to evaluate various treatments for autism.
Age Range: 5 - 12 years Administration Time: 10 - 15 minutes 0 minutes


ACHIEVEMENT

WOODCOCK - JOHNSON III TESTS OF ACHIEVEMENT
(Woodcock, Mc Grew, & Mather, 2001)
The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement is one of the primary diagnostic tools used by evaluators to determine whether a student has learning disabilities. It is an individually administered battery of 22 achievement tests that covers 10 achievement areas such as reading, spelling, knowledge of science, mathematics etc. Not all of the tests are administered at the youngest age levels.
Age Range: 2 - 90+ years
Administration Time: Varies, about 5 minutes per subtest


OTHER

ABERRANT BEHAVIOR CHECKLIST (ABC)
(Aman, Singh, Stewart, & Field, 1985)
The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a 58-item rating scale developed for persons with developmental disabilities. It is designed to be used with clients living in the community, often used to assess medication effects on persons with developmental disabilities.
Age Range: 5 - 54 years
Administration Time: 10 - 15 minutes

BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR CHILDREN - SECOND EDITION (BASC-2)
(Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004)
The Behavior Assessment System for Children – Second Edition (BASC-II) is a tool used to evaluate the behavior and self-perceptions of children and young adults. It is multimethod in that it has the following five components, which may be used individually or in any combination:

  • Two rating scales (parent and teacher)
  • Self-report scale (ages 8-25)
  • Structured Developmental History (SDH) form
  • Student Observation System (SOS)

Age Range: 2 - 25 years
Administration Time: rating scales (parent and teacher) 10-20 minutes; self-report 20-30 minutes; SDH varies; SOS 15 minutes

CLINICAL GLOBAL IMPRESSION (CGI)
(Guy & Bonato, 1970)
The Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale is a 3-item scale designed t to assess global severity, improvement, and side effects. It is widely used in clinical drug studies. Administration Time: 5 minutes PARENTING STRESS INDEX (PSI) (Abidin, 1995) The Parent Stress Index (PSI) is a 36-item measure of parents' self-reported stress along several dimensions: parental distress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction, and difficult child. The instrument has established reliability and validity across ethnic/cultural groups representative of the U.S. population.
Age Range: parents with children between the ages of 1 month and 12 years
Administration Time: 30 minutes


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