ABA assessments at Centria are a collaborative process. Our clients, their families and our clinicians work together to develop an individualized plan that is tailored to their goals and unique needs. The plan and progress towards the goals defined within it are continually evaluated and updated throughout the course of therapy.
Our assessment process entails four primary elements:
- Review
- Listening and information gathering
- Observation and play-based assessment
- Development of the individualized treatment plan
Below is a basic guide of what to expect as you begin the process of setting up an individualized program for your child.
Step 1 – Review
A member of Centria’s clinical team will review all of the information you provided during the intake process. This will include the answers you provided to questions asked during the intake interview and reports from previous therapists and providers. They will use this information to develop a plan for the types of assessment tools that they may want to use when they meet with you and your child.
Step 2 – Listening and Information Gathering
- A member of the Centria clinical team will meet with you and ask you questions across a range of different areas (e.g., developmental, medical, social) to learn about your child’s strengths, their areas of opportunity for growth, and to understand your goals for therapy
- During this phase of the process your clinician will also work with you to define Client Aspirations, which are the hopes and dreams you have for your child. Client Aspirations are central to our treatment planning process every part of our treatment plan is aligned to them.
- You may also be asked to respond to some structured questionnaires during this step of the assessment process. These questionnaires will help us begin to understand where your child’s skills are relative to the goals you have for therapy. Examples of some of the structured questionnaires that may be used in the process include:
- Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale – Third Edition (Vineland-3): The Vineland-3 is a standardized informant based rating scale that asks questions about a child’s communication skills, socialization skills, self-care skills, and motor skills.
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory (PDDBI): The PDDBI is an informant based rating scale for individuals who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. It assesses behavioral excesses as well as deficits and can be used to track responsiveness to intervention.
- Social Responsiveness Scale – Second Edition (SRS-2): The SRS-2 is a parent report measure that assesses an individual’s social interaction skills and obtains information about the impact that restricted interests and repetitive behaviors may have on their day to day interactions.
Step 3 – Observation and Play-Based Assessment
- One or two members of the Centria clinical team will meet with you and your child. Informal assessment will occur during this process as they build rapport and observe them during free-play and structured activities.
- Members of the Centria clinical team will also utilize a combination of developmentally appropriate standardized and curriculum-based assessment tools to obtain information about your child’s current skills and abilities across various skill areas (e.g., communication, self-help, and social skills).
- Below is a summary of the common curriculum-based assessment tools used in developing an individualized plan of care for your child. Not all assessments will be used for each child and the length of the assessment process will vary depending on the child.
- Verbal Behavior in Milestones Assessment (VB-MAPP): The VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment is a skills-based assessment tool to evaluate an individual’s communication and social skills. It is often used to guide the selection of goals to address when developing an individualized treatment plan.
- The Assessment of Basic Language Skills – Revised (ABLLS-R): The ABLLS-R is a skills-based assessment tool and tracker. It is often used to help develop a customized plan to teach language and other functional skills.
- The Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS): The AFLS is an assessment and skill tracking system that helps guide the development of goals related to independent living skills.
Depending on your child, steps 2 and 3 may take place over one or two sessions.
Step 4 – Development of the Individualized Treatment Plan
Based on the information obtained during the parent interview and the direct assessments with your child, the clinician working with you and your family will create an individualized treatment plan outlining the goals for therapy. The plan will then be reviewed with you and submitted for authorization to the appropriate funding source.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Emily Callahan joined the Centria Autism team in August of 2021 as the Vice President of Clinical Quality. In her role, she is responsible for the development and oversight of systems to assess the quality and outcomes of Centria’s intake and assessment processes. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) licensed in Virginia.
Prior to joining Centria, Emily was the first Executive Director of the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP). Past positions also included the Director of Outpatient Behavioral Services at the Virginia Institute of Autism, the Coordinator of Development, Research and Training at the Institute for Child Development (ICD) at SUNY Binghamton, and an Adjunct Professor in the Psychology program at SUNY Binghamton.
She has presented research related to applied behavior analysis and autism at numerous local, national and international conferences and meetings. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals and books and has been the co-principle investigator on numerous grants focused on improving the lives of those diagnosed with autism. She is a member of the Media Watch Review Committee for the Association for Science in Autism Treatment, is the past Conference Co-Chair for the Virginia Association for Behavior Analysis (VABA), a member of the Public Policy Committee for VABA, and is the past Co-President for the Developmental Disabilities Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.