The paper describes an interactive evaluation process based on E. Brown's transactional evaluation model, and its application to evaluating programs serving children with severe and multiple disabilities or other low incidence populations. The model emphasizes the first part of the assessment process, determining which questions to ask and what…

Described is the development of a programed instruction manual in mobility and orientation skills for multiply handicapped blind children. Detailed are procedures involved in creating a developmental scale to assess five basic areas: use of a seated guide, seating, trailing, protective skills, and route travel. Results are reported for a pilot…

The paper reviews cognitive development during the sensorimotor period (approximately the first two years of life) and considers approaches to assessing multihandicapped, deaf-blind, or severely/profoundly retarded students functioning at this level. Evaluation and training of basic sensorimotor schemes (visual fixation and tracking, sucking, and…

The manual describes a procedure to assess to what extent a deaf-blind multiply handicapped student uses his residual hearing in the classroom. Six levels of auditory functioning (awareness/reflexive, attention/alerting, localization, auditory discrimination, recognition, and comprehension) are analyzed, and assessment activities are detailed for…

Gathering, interpreting and conveying diagnostic information to parents of multiply handicapped children is an essential first step in the child's development. Assessment should investigate response to materials, teaching methods and reinforcers. Communication with parents can be enhanced through enlisting their participation in the evaluation…

WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and WRAT (Wide Range Achievement Test) data from the first sample of 60 children with uncomplicated meningomyelocele (a neurological condition) were examined to determine their deviation from test norms. A second sample of 46 children was tested with the WISC-R, WRAT, VMI (Visual Motor Integration)…

Described are the steps involved in revising the Peabody Mobility Scale (PMS), an instrument for assessing the orientation and mobility skills of multiply handicapped blind children. Among the revision procedures discussed are a redefinition of item content for mobility and prerequisite skills, and alteration of the format to that of an easily…

The study evaluated the validity, reliability, and effectiveness in providing needed information of the Montana Functional Vision Assessment (MFVA) Instrument by comparing it with the Texas Education Agency Functional Vision Assessment and field testing the instrument in evaluations of nine multihandicapped students (ages 3-11). Evaluation led to…

This paper introduces an alternative to the conventional "method-oriented" approach to evaluation of interventions with people having profound/multiple intellectual disabilities (PMPID). The proposed approach uses the principles of theory-driven evaluation, based on a program theory which specifies what must be done to achieve the desired goals,…

The Georgia Parent Infant Network for Educational Services (PINES) is a home intervention program currently serving over 300 hearing impaired, visually impaired, and multihandicapped sensory impaired (MHSI) preschoolers. The infant-toddler evaluation component is described, with sections on screening and diagnosis, parent education concerning…

Examined are the effects of motor skill development and impairment on the infant's and young child's overall functioning, and suggested are guidelines for assessing motor skills in multiply handicapped children. It is explained that motor delays and deficits limit a child's learning during critical developmental periods. Examples of delayed motor…

This paper summarizes the results of a symposium on assessment procedures at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, a residential/day school for children with sensory impairments. Experience with top down assessment utilizing a wholistic approach is emphasized. First a brief description of assessment in the parent infant program is given. Then…

Discussed in remarks by two special education teachers and two administrators from Kentucky are the development and use of the Lexington Developmental Scale (LDS) with multiply handicapped preschool children. It is explained that the LDS covers five skill areas: gross and fine motor, receptive and expressive language, cognitive, personal-social,…

Covered in the paper on the psychoeducational assessment of the multihandicapped child are the importance of the learning accomplished in the sensory motor period and the effects of evaluation media and sequence on child performance. Described are the six stages of sensory motor development measured by a Piagetian-based instrument developed by J.…

Factors involved in evaluating multiply handicapped children are examined. Described are instruments and techniques for measuring three central concerns: (1) the extent to which the impairments limit the child's functioning (including the Test of Auditory Discrimination and the Children's Embedded Figures Test); (2) the child's ability to complete…