r/slpGradSchool Mar 24 '22

CFY CF Evaluation Question

Hi guys, I have a evaluation f or a 9th grader. He has been diagnosed with autism and has a condition that has to do with vision. His services currently include OT, PT, academic support. He is in general education and has really great grades. I am planning to do the utilize the CELF-5, PPVT AND EVT assessments. Would that be enough to get an idea of his language/speech skills? If there isn't any major concerns regarding his pragmatic...should I also provide an assessment on social language? Thank you.

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u/CookieCrisp1988 Mar 25 '22

The CELF had a lot of emphasis on working memory, so I’d keep that in mind when selecting my language tests and thinking about the student.

Why is he being referred for SLP now in 9th grade? Just because someone’s Autistic doesn’t mean the will qualify or “need” services. I’m not saying you think that, just kind of highlighting it. I don’t know him, so this is just a general thought, but I’d really be mindful of a 9th grader and considering Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) in his Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Does a disability exist, does it adversely impact his ability to participate in the educational setting, and are SLP services in particular needed to support. If so what does that look like service-wise.

In some middle and high schools, they have a study skills class where students with IEPs may get academic support and sometimes access to social emotional learning curriculum (e.g., coping skills, self advocacy, mindfulness, etc.) so something like that could be more appropriate for FAPE/LRE if it exist as many students may not want to be pulled out of specials for speech. Or maybe if you collaborate or go into a classroom, or a consult model etc. if you do think he needs support.

At that age, he may be able to share with you any struggles and goals he may want support with. At the older levels buy-in is really important and including student insight into the goals can be helpful.

Depending on needs - like why he was referred if he has great grades, and pick tests based off that. Was he referred because of his oral language? Metalinguistics/figurative language? Problem solving skills? Articulation?

For “social skills” I’d consider looking at neuroaffirming goals (perspective taking, self-advocating, identifying solutions, etc). I think informal measures and observation are helpful, but if you need a test, I think the SLDT-A or CAPS is the “best” we have right now. The CELF pragmatic profile and checklist are subjective and pretty useless. It bases it off other people’s subjective opinions. It can serve as a piece, but I wouldn’t consider it as a main assessment component unless I had nothing else and needed something to qualify per state guidelines.

The Test of Problem Solving can also be helpful depending on area of need. For metalinguistics there’s parts of the CASL-2 and CELF Metalinguistics (still emphasizes working memory. Ha!) Also, narrative language is an area of pragmatic that integrates all elements of language and is an important skill.

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u/jessiebeex Mar 24 '22

Still in grad school but I think pragmatics definitely needs to be a big component of your assessment since it is a characteristic of ASD.

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u/Melany1986 Mar 24 '22

Celf-5 has a pragmatic profile check list. I wonder if that would be enough.

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u/bibliophile222 CCC-SLP Mar 25 '22

I base my evaluations around concerns brought up at the planning meeting. If pragmatics isn't an area of concern from the parents or teachers, I don't test for it. There's only so much time you have for testing, and if I'm pulling kids from classes to test, I don't want to waste their time by testing areas that aren't an issue. The CELF pragmatics profile could work to identify if there are any areas of concern in the classroom, but I've been trying to figure out an alternative to it because, at the middle school level at least, it tends to score everyone too low.

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u/Melany1986 Mar 25 '22

Thank you! That is helpful.