Assessment & Diagnosis

Diagnostic Assessment

Diagnostic assessment aims to see if the individual being assessed meets criteria or demonstrates behaviors or symptoms that would meet criteria for a formal diagnosis. Families are often seeking answers about whether their child has a certain condition, want a second opinion after their child has already been given or hasn’t been given a diagnosis by another evaluator, or are wanting answers to why their child is or is not acting or developing in a certain way. Diagnostic assessments identify areas that the client would benefit from additional support or services of some sort, and given their strengths, what may be the best approach or type of services and supports to teach them new skills. Diagnostic assessments also determine medical necessity for conditions like autism spectrum disorders.

 Diagnostic assessment includes:

• Comprehensive review of previous reports and records from school, medical doctors and specialists
• Interview and review of developmental history and the current concerns of the family and child
• Administration of standard tests including diagnostic tests specific to the family and child’s concerns
• Observation of the client in different environments if relevant (i.e., home observation, school observation, observation with peers)
• Consultation with those already providing services to the client (i.e., speech therapist, school teacher, psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor)
• Full written report including background information, observations of the client, results of standardized tests, diagnostic impressions, and recommendations
• Feedback session with family to review the findings within the written report and answer questions

Developmental Assessment

Developmental assessments aim to identify where a client is at in their development as compared to others their age. These assessments identify a client’s strengths and weaknesses within different developmental domains including: language and communication, socialization and emotional functioning, cognitive functioning, adaptive living, and motor skills. They can help a family identify what areas of development their child is delayed in, how delayed their child is in different areas, and recommend goals and services to address those delays.

Developmental assessment includes:

• Comprehensive review of previous reports and records from school, medical doctors and specialists
• Interview and review of developmental history and the current concerns of the family and child
• Administration of standard tests on different developmental domains
• Probing of skills with the client- asking them to demonstrate certain skills and testing them out
• Observation of the client in different environments if relevant (i.e., home observation, school observation, observation with peers)
• Consultation with those already providing services to the client (i.e., speech therapist, school teacher, psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor)
• Full written report including background information, observations of the client, results of standardized tests, diagnostic impressions, and recommendations
• Feedback session with family to review the findings within the written report and answer questions

Functional Behavior Assessment

Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) aim to clearly identify what problem behaviors a client is engaging in that may be impacting their ability to be fully included with their family, peers, and/or in school. These assessments determine the purpose the behavior is serving the client, or what the client is trying to ultimately communicate to others by engaging in problematic behaviors. This is done largely through observation and interview as behavior assessment is firmly rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis which looks at what is going on in the environment to determine the purpose of behaviors and how to then modify them. FBAs can be performed for clients at home or school. Assessment, Consultation & Treatment is a nonpublic agency certified in the State of California.

Many families seek out Functional Behavior Assessment in hope of getting their child to stop engaging in problem behaviors. These problem behaviors can include biting siblings or peers, other forms of aggression, tantrums, causing harm to themselves (biting or hitting themselves, picking and skin raking), repetitive behaviors, etc. Often times these behaviors have brought harm to the client or others, have brought negative attention to the child such as being bullied or left out, or are interfering with the family’s ability to carry out everyday tasks (i.e., have meals together, go out into the community as a family) or the child’s ability to learn at school and be part of their classroom.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) includes:

• Comprehensive review of previous reports and records from school, medical doctors and specialists
• Interview and review of the history of the problem behaviors and the current concerns of the family and child
• Administration of questionnaires about the problem behaviors, and the client’s preferences
• Interview and probing with the client to understand why they engage in problem behaviors
• Observation of the client in different environments where they may or may not engage in the problem behaviors (at home, in the community, at school, etc.)
• Consultation with those already providing services to the client (i.e., speech therapist, school teacher, psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor)
• Identification of the triggers and maintaining consequences of problem behaviors as well as replacement behaviors
• Full written report including background information, observations of the client, results of standardized tests, diagnostic impressions, and recommendations
• Development of a Behavior Support Plan/Behavior Intervention Plan
• Feedback session with family to review the findings within the written report and answer questions.