Ms. Bennett explained that she was referred to the AUTAPS by the DSS at University of La Verne when she expressed her concerns due to her academic difficulties. She elaborated that she does not get anxious or nervous in class, but that she takes longer time to comprehend questions being presented and answer them appropriately and accurately. Ms. Bennett stated that she would like to continue taking exams in a longer allotted time, as she feels she can perform better with accommodations. Thus, she would like to have comprehensive psychological assessment completed to determine whether she is eligible to renew her previously granted accommodations.Ms. Bennett presented as a casual, average height female student. She appeared uninterested in this …show more content…
At the beginning of the intake, she seemed very angry saying, “special education is just a label of my abilities that the school placed” without any type of assessment. She emphasized that the label “screwed” her educational career, and began crying while explaining how bad the special education program had been to her. Her anger continued to displayed while she was explaining about the academic difficulties that were exacerbated by the lack of learning opportunity. A few minutes later, she mentioned, “we got off the topic” and immediately quit talking about her earlier experience at school. As the assessor validated the exceptional effort of Ms. Bennett, she appeared to be reassured and …show more content…
Bennett presented with a constricted affect most of the time, as she appeared to suppress her emotions after she expressed her frustration with the way in which she was treated in the IEP. During testing of the WAIS, WIAT, and CVLT, she often spoke to herself quietly in a negative manner, including comments like “no, that is a dumb answer” and “no, that’s not it…” It seemed apparent that the longer she waited to respond, the more she became doubtful about her own answers, especially with the working memory-related questions. Moreover, she appeared immensely confused and uncertain during the entire section of the Block Design of the WAIS, suggesting that she has significant deficiency in her visual-spatial ability. Nevertheless, Ms. Bennett’s thought process seemed linear. She did not display any noticeable psychotic symptoms, as well as inattentive hyperactivity, and anxiety during the interview. Ms. Bennett was oriented to person, place, time and circumstance, and she completed the assessment with just a few water breaks in between the tests, as she was able to maintain alertness and attentiveness throughout the entire sessions. Ms. Bennett was administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV), a standardized assessment of overall cognitive functioning, potentially revealing individual cognitive strengths and weaknesses. On the WAIS-IV, Ms. Bennett scored a Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) of 71, falling within the Borderline range of
Bob Schmoe is a 34-year-old Caucasian male who was referred by his Department of Rehabilitation caseworker for an evaluation. His intelligence was measured using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence (WASI). There were four subtests measured, two of which were verbal and the other two were non-verbal. Bob’s nonverbal abilities, specific analyses of subtest scores and math computation skills showed both fell within the low average range. Bob’s visual spatial skills fell within the low average range as well. In addition, Bob’s spelling skills fell within the borderline range. Lastly, Bob scored highest in his verbal comprehension and word reading even though both fell within the average percentile of his age group. Altogether,
Ms. Bennett is a 29 year-old, single, heterosexual, African American, woman who presented herself at the Argosy University Therapeutic Assessment and Psychotherapy Services (AUTAPS) for her main concern that she takes longer time to comprehend material taught in class. Ms. Bennett is a first year graduate student at University of La Verne who is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Leadership and Management. She reported that she is currently receiving accommodations from the university, as the University was temporarily able to accept the documentation provided for the previous university. She appeared to be of stated age, dressed appropriately for assessment with good personal grooming, and arrived just on time for her appointment. Ms. Bennett appeared to be guarded, as she sometimes appeared to inhibit her speech by saying “never mind.” Similarly, the range of her demonstrated affect was relatively constricted and the tone of her speech seemed low. Nevertheless, she appeared effortful and respectful toward the examiner throughout the assessment. Ms. Bennett was alert and attentive, and is likely to be a reliable historian, as the stories she told were consistent and thus her memory appeared adequate. Her thought process seems to be clear and linear, and she was oriented to person, place, and time. Ms. Bennett is seeking comprehensive assessment to determine whether she may be eligible for accommodations based on the results of testing.Ms. Bennett reported that she was
In this mock IEP meeting, we examine John Grohman from Kelsey Elementary School. John is a 2nd grade student who has Asperger’s Syndrome. He is a student who has extreme behavioral problems. John’s parents are extremely concerned about his behavior at home and at school. In this mock IEP, we look at John from his parents, special education teacher, administrator, general education teacher, and evaluator; to get a better picture of what is needed to help John be successful.
Marisol’s son Jason had been recommended for services for almost seven months by school teacher and supporting staff. Throughout his year in Pre- K, his teacher documented several incidents which lead her to believe he needed to be evaluated for special education. He was not reaching academic milestones for his age. In response, Marisol felt that she was being pressured into rushing an evaluation and thought her son deserved to meet the milestones at his own pace. Marisol delayed the evaluation process by not submitting necessary consent and paper promptly. When asked what hopes or fears she had about special education, she expressed fears of Jason being treated different not only by teachers and peers, but by relatives and friends. She noted that she also did not feel well- informed on the process of evaluation and allocation of services when asked about what would help calm her fears. Marisol explained that she just needed a meeting where every question she had would be answered with knowledge, exactitude, and expertise. After Jason’s behavior led to a teacher injury, Marisol felt forced to allow the evaluation process to begin. Jason, who is now five years old, was placed in a twelve-to-one Kindergarten setting upon
Cathy Turner, my mother, is the executive director, president of the board, and the lead therapist at NewSong Counseling Center located in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. Her duties are extensive because she has so many roles within the organization. Some of these include paying the bills involved with running a business such as rent and utilities and creating clinical reports. As the president of the board she creates the agenda for board meetings and suggests places for growth. Also as lead therapist, Turner selects the treatment plans for all of her clients utilizing evidence-based practices that she researches and implements.
The author performed two separate interviews face-to-face, selecting two individuals with different backgrounds in order to obtain unique perspectives. The first interviewee, named Jennifer Hodge, works for Allen ISD as a special education teacher for a self-contained DEAR (Developing Early Academics Readiness) class for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. In addition, her experience includes teaching for 22 years, with seven of those years teaching students with disabilities in both self-contained classrooms along with resource and inclusion environments. The meeting to discuss psychoeducational testing occurred in Jennifer’s work place during her conference period over a 45 minute period on Friday, August 28, 2015. The second
Tiyana completed a series of performance based tasks (NAB, WAIS-IV) assessing executive function abilities including working memory, inhibition, verbal fluency, nonverbal planning, and shifting. Her performance on these tasks was variable, with scores falling into the average to well below average range.
A special education student’s transition from school to adulthood is important. Several things need to be addressed and obstacles need to be overcome in order to do so. Specific student evaluations to assess emotional social and academic levels are necessary are beginning steps in this transition.
Beakstead, personal communication, October 31, 2013). Alternately, another student’s area of concentration might be based solely on independent living skills at home or with caretakers, and less focused on academic goals. As the goals are implemented by the special education team the student’s achievements can be evaluated daily, weekly, or monthly and in independent and group settings until mastery of the IEP goal is achieved, and where the learning goals of the IEP are age and skill level appropriate and address the future needs of the student. Additionally, these experiences encourage opportunities to practice new knowledge and skills, where teacher-directed and student feedback is available, and where instructional practice and student expectations can be reflected on and adjusted if necessary (Johnson-Gerard, 2012).
This paper discusses the pros and cons of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III). First, important definitional, theoretical issues, including the nature of intelligence, a brief history, and pros and cons are discussed. Next, the development, reliability, validity, and assets and limitations of the WAIS-III are examined. This is followed by discussion of the meaning of IQ scores, use of successive level interpretation and cautions and guidelines for administration. Last, subtests, assessing special population groups, short forms, profile forms, and what a
Ms. Bennett emphasized that she frequently felt unjust since the time of her placement in the IEP, but that there was nothing she could do to change the circumstance. She stated that she fell further behind in every subject in each grade, as she continued her participation in the IEP. Ms. Bennett stated that even when she moved on to the middle school and high school, she was unanimously determined to remain in the program at the beginning of the school years although Ms. Bennett vaguely indicated that
Jane Doe shared several challenging experiences about when John Doe was in elementary school. She shared that her personal views did not match the views of the special education staff. She felt that they were determined to integrate John Doe into a general education classroom when she felt he was not ready. This was a hard time for John Doe. He experienced many behavioral issues and meltdowns due to being frustrated about being behind his peers academically. The special education staff was rather headstrong about John Doe taking medications to alter his behavior to continue in general education classes. Jane Doe refused this “treatment” and switched him to a therapeutic school
General neuropsychological assessment. Alice’s general intelligence and low-level visual abilities were tested to ensure they were not the reason for her reported difficulty in identifying faces. She scored in the normal range for these tests. Alice scored in the 97th percentile of the Abbreviated Raven’s Matrices for her age group- this test was designed to measure abstract reasoning. She also scored in the high range of the Digit Span Memory with a forward score of 12 and backward score of 7. This showed that she had a normal working memory. Alice’s language skills also remained unaffected as she correctly pronounced 58 of the 61 words in the National Adult Reading Test.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV; Wechsler, 1949). This seminal intelligence scale assesses a child 's general intellectual ability across four domains, producing four corresponding index scores: (1) the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), (2) the Visual Spatial Index (VSI), (3) the Working Memory Index (WMI), and finally (4) the Processing Speed Index (PSI). The VCI measures verbal concept formation, specifically assessing children 's ability to listen to a question, draw upon learned information from both formal and informal education, reason through an answer, and express their thoughts aloud. An example item from this index is similarities, vocabulary, and comprehension. Next, the VSI measures non-verbal and fluid reasoning and assesses children 's ability to examine a problem, draw upon visual-motor and visual-spatial skills, organize their thoughts, create solutions, and then test them. An example item from this index is solving a 3D puzzle. The WMI measures working memory and assesses children 's ability to memorize new information, hold it in short-term memory, concentrate, and manipulate that information to produce some result or reasoning processes; an example item would be letter-number sequencing. This measure is particularly important for higher-order thinking, learning, and achievement. Finally, the PSI measures the speed of information processing and assesses children 's abilities to focus attention and quickly scan, discriminate between, and
The book Lovey helped me to reflect on what life as a special education teacher would be like in the past. While reading the book I admired the remarkable commitment that Mary MacCrackin has to her job teaching special education students, no matter the circumstances. Most teachers would have a hard time accepting a student that knowing they would interrupt and disturb the safe environment that you worked so hard to create. However, Mary chose to take on that responsibility with Hannah. Mary worked with Hannah each day little by little helping her become part of the class. Hannah is a student who I would consider to be emotionally disturbed and have autism. Reading about her daily life at school, life at home and her personality I began to understand her as a student who has autism. In the past, it was common for students to not be diagnosed with autism. After reading Lovey it is clear that Hannah was both emotionally disturbed and had autism.