ASSESSMENTS

Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) is a clinical assessment for children and youth (0-20yrs) that can be used across all diagnoses, conditions, and settings. The PEDI-CAT is comprised of a comprehensive item bank of 276 functional activities acquired throughout infancy, childhood, and young adulthood. The PEDI-CAT is designed for use with infants, children, and youth with a variety of physical, cognitive, and/or behavioural conditions. The PEDI-CAT Report will also inform and guide ongoing interventions from caregivers, allied health professionals and educators.

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition is the leading instrument for supporting the diagnosis of intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is designed to meet any adaptive behaviour assessment need by offering Interview, Parent/Caregiver, and Teacher Forms, Comprehensive (full-length) and Domain-Level (abbreviated) versions of each form. The Vineland~3 addresses today’s special needs populations, such as individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and ADHD. It is useful for diagnosis, qualification for special programs, progress reporting, program and treatment planning.

Developmental Profile (Fourth Edition) (DP4) is a reliable and valid tool which is norm-referenced to assess an individual (0 - 21 years) across a variety of settings. The assessment includes feedback from the caregiver, educator and clinician to provide a detailed account of the individuals’ strengths and identify any areas of developmental delay. The DP4 Report will also inform and guide ongoing interventions from caregivers, allied health professionals and educators.

The Comprehensive Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness is a non-standardised tool designed to gain insight into how a learning experiences interoceptive sensations during daily activity and emotion. It includes sub-assessments: The Interoceptive Awareness Interview, The Assessment of Self-Regulation, and The Caregiver Questionnaire for Interoceptive Awareness.

The Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist (PPE-DC) is suitable for children aged 12 months to 5 years. It assesses pretend play skills, enjoyment of play, and a child's sense of self (their self-representation as observed during play). The PPE-DC assesses a child's pretend play ability across the skills of play scripts, sequences of play actions, object substitutions, doll/teddy play, role play, and social interaction. Interpretation of the PPE-DC provides insight into the child’s ease of engagement in therapy to build play ability, and the child’s ability to engage in and enjoy spontaneous pretend play with reference to their sense of self through play. The PPE-DC provides insight into areas of a child’s development that are often not considered and which impact on a child’s language, narrative, social competence, problem solving, and sense of autobiographical narrative.

The Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment-2 (ChIPPA-2) is designed for children from 3 years to 7 years 11 months who have difficulty playing or don’t know how to play. It is a norm referenced standardised assessment of the quality of a child’s ability to self-initiate their play. The child’s ability to sequence play actions, use symbols in play and self-initiate play are assessed across two sets of play materials – conventional imaginative play materials (for conventional-imaginative pretend play) and unstructured objects (for symbolic play).

More information can be found here.

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition accurately assesses and diagnoses autism spectrum disorders across age, developmental level, and language skills. The ADOS-2 is used to obtain information that informs diagnosis, treatment planning, and educational placement. A semi-structured, standardised assessment of communication, social interaction, play, and restricted and repetitive behaviours, it presents various activities that elicit behaviours directly related to a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21) is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress. Each of the three DASS-21 scales contains 7 items, divided into subscales with similar content. It assesses difficulty relaxing, nervous arousal, and being easily upset/agitated, irritable/over-reactive and impatient. Scores for Depression, Anxiety and Stress are calculated by summing the scores for the relevant items.

Social Emotional Wellbeing Assessment is a comprehensive tool which assesses social emotional skills and functioning such as resilience, coping strategies, trauma, mental health and safe relationships. The report provided presents the clinical findings in a constructive and supportive way and includes recommendations for future treatment goals for caregivers, allied health professionals and educators.

World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) is a practical, generic assessment instrument that can measure health and disability at population level or in clinical practice. It measures: Cognition – understanding and communicating; Mobility – moving and getting around; Self-care – attending to one’s hygiene, dressing, eating and staying alone; Getting along – interacting with other people; Life activities – domestic responsibilities, leisure, work and school; and Participation – joining in community activities, participating in society.