The formal assessment process can be a daunting experience for parents of children newly diagnosed with autism. By using highly technical language and focusing on "deficit performance," assessments can often overwhelm and dishearten parents. In addition, autism and medical professionals rarely explain outcomes in terms that parents can use to set goals for their children. The Parent's Guide to Assessment provides the tools to help parents better understand the assessment process and, subsequently, utilize assessment outcomes to improve services and interventions for their children.
Among the topics covered in A Parent's Guide to Assessment are:
The strengths and weaknesses of assessment process
Technical language contained in the reports
Who is qualified to complete an assessment
What specific assessment tools measure
How to interpret the results in a way that informs proactive, individual decision making