Evaluations

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Early Intervention Evaluations

Every child referred to the Early Intervention Program has the right to a multidisciplinary evaluation at no cost to parents. Multidisciplinary simply means that more than one professional will be a part of your child's evaluation. Your child's evaluation team should have:

• A professional who can look at your child's overall development.
• A professional with special knowledge about your child's problem. For example, if your child is delayed in sitting up, walking, or other motor abilities, a motor therapist might be on your child's team.

Your initial Early Intervention service coordinator will give you a list of evaluators. You have the right to choose any evaluator from this list. Advanced Therapy provides Early Intervention Evaluations in the following counties:

If you decide that the Early Intervention Program can help your child, the next step is to have your child evaluated. The reasons for the evaluation are to:

• Find out if your child is eligible for early intervention services; and,
• Gather facts about your child's strengths and needs that will help you make good decisions about services.

If your child has a diagnosed disability, she or he will always be eligible for early intervention services. Your child will still need a multidisciplinary evaluation to look at all areas of development and help with the development of an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

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Preschool Evaluations

If you have a preschool child and you have noticed that your child is not developing skills such as walking, talking or playing like other young children, you may want to talk to your family doctor. He or she may be able to reassure you that children develop at different rates and your child is within the normal developmental scales. If, however, the doctor is concerned, or you are still not comfortable with your child’s progress, you may make a referral to your school district’s Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE).

After your child is referred for a multidisciplinary evaluation, you will be asked to give your written consent to have your son or daughter evaluated. Parents of preschool children will be asked to select an approved evaluator from a list of evaluation sites. Advanced Therapy provides Preschool Evaluations in the following counties:

As a parent, you have input as to the tests and assessments to be conducted on your child. Before an evaluation is conducted, you will be asked for your suggestions about evaluating your child and be given information about the kinds of tests that will be used. If you have questions about the purpose or type of evaluation proposed, you should discuss them with the chairperson of the Committee.

The results of an evaluation help determine if special education services or programs are needed. An evaluation includes various assessment tools and strategies. These tests determine what your child’s learning difficulties may be and how those difficulties affect his or her participation and progress in the general education curriculum. This evaluation is at no cost to you. As a parent, it will be helpful to share with the Committee the important information you have about your child’s skills, abilities and needs, including copies of any evaluations you have on your child. The Committee must consider information from parents when making decisions.

Evaluations must be comprehensive and provide information about your child’s unique abilities and needs. Evaluations include information from parents and a group of evaluators, including at least one special education teacher or other person with knowledge of your child’s suspected disability. An evaluation will provide information that relates to your child in his or her classroom. It will tell what your child needs to be involved in, participate and progress in general education curriculum.

Tests and assessments, given as part of an evaluation, must be given in your child’s language by people who are trained, knowledgeable and/or certified to give the tests. The tests must be fair and not discriminate racially or culturally.

An initial evaluation to determine your child's needs must include:

• a physical examination
• a psychological evaluation (mandatory for pre-school children)
• a social history
• observation of your child in his or her current education setting
• other tests or assessments that are appropriate for your child (such as a speech and language assessment or a functional behavioral assessment)

The evaluation report will be provided to you and the results of the assessments will explained to you by the professional who administered the testing. After the evaluation is completed, you will be invited to a meeting, as a member of the Committee, to talk about the results. You should attend this meeting because you have important information to share about your child. At the meeting, the Committee will review the evaluation results. Based on that information, and information that you provide, the Committee decides if your child is eligible or ineligible to receive special education programs and/or services.

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Screenings

Screenings are used as a tool to determine the need for an evaluation. It allows therapist, teachers and students an opportunity to identify areas of need and begin the process of intervention. If an evaluation is not deemed to be necessary, therapist can provide strategies/intervention to address the concerns and monitor the student’s progress. If the student does not demonstrate improvement in these areas of concern an evaluation can be recommended. The information gathered from providing intervention can be used along with testing results to support a need for therapy services. In addition, the therapist would have begun the process of identifying successful strategies that can facilitate the student’s progress.

Advanced Therapy provides free screenings for individual children and/or groups of children attending daycare and preschool settings. Parents, teachers and caregivers may contact Advanced Therapy to arrange screenings for children.