| Autism, one of several subcategories of pervasive developmental disorders (APA, 1994), requires significant intervention throughout the person's life (Minshew, 1996). The assessment of autism often involves clinical observation, standardized testing, and use of behavior rating scales. Utilizing these techniques will very often lead to a quicker and more accurate diagnosis and subsequently to more precise treatment recommendations. A greater understanding of the assessment strategies and tools that are currently utilized by practicing school psychologists may have important implications for the field. Strong assessment skills and psychometrically valid assessment tools may help guide specific treatment recommendations and positively contribute to the practice of treatment of students with autism by school psychologists. At the same time, with treatment strategies often based upon accurate assessment, an examination of treatment recommendations and their consistency with standardized practice would also be beneficial. Oftentimes, the interventions are varied, and regrettably, are based on the sometimes-limited information that is available to the parents and to the clinician. Public knowledge is critical to the provision of appropriate services for the autistic client. A survey was conducted on 1,000 school psychologists who are members of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) to determine the most well known evaluative tools and therapies in the field. The CARS proved to be the most well known of the tests, while ABA was the best known of the respective therapies. Support, however, was lukewarm, as clinicians did not give either very strong support leading to the conclusion that clinicians are not well grounded in appropriate therapies and tests. |
