Diagnostic assessments

Diagnostic tests and assessments

• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – ADOS-2

  • A standardised, semi-structured protocol that represents the “gold standard” in the diagnostic process for assessing individuals suspected of having an autism spectrum disorder.
  • It includes an assessment of the individual’s communication, social interaction, play/imaginative use of materials and repetitive behaviours.
  • It is used to assess individuals from 12 months of age onwards.
  • It contains five assessment modules, and only one of them, suited to the individual participant, is used per assessment.

• Čuturić Developmental Test (RTČ)

  • For testing the psychomotor development of infants, toddlers and preschool children.
  • It tests the development of psychomotor skills, oculomotor skills, emotionality, speech, auditory-motor reactions, communication, sociability and verbal expression of knowledge.
  • It is used with typically developing children and with children with disabilities aged from one month to eight years.
  • Various materials are used (a rattle, a bell, a mirror, a picture book…).
  • It is carried out in the presence of a parent or another adult.

• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – WISC-IV-HR

  • The best-known and most frequently used intelligence test for children.
  • It provides information on the child’s general intellectual ability and on a range of the child’s specific cognitive abilities.
  • It makes it possible to identify children with moderate or severe learning and reading difficulties, hyperactive children, children with attention disorders, emotional disorders, behavioural disorders, hearing impairments and problems in producing and understanding speech.
  • It is used to assess children and adolescents aged from 6 years 0 months to 16 years 11 months.

• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test – ADHDT

  • A standardised and normed test intended for assessing the behaviour of persons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or persons with behavioural problems, and for diagnosing pupils with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
  • It is used to assess individuals aged 3 to 23.

• Beck Youth Inventories – Second Edition for children and adolescents – BYI-II

  • They consist of five self-report inventories used to capture the experience of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behaviour and self-concept in children and adolescents aged 7 to 18.
  • A useful aid in making a diagnosis or determining treatment, and in monitoring the progress of children involved in a treatment or care plan.

• Test for Reception of Grammar – TROG-2:HR

  • A receptive language test that assesses the understanding of Croatian grammar with regard to inflection, function words and word order.
  • It allows the examiner not only to assess the participant’s understanding of grammar compared with other participants of the same age, but also reveals their specific areas of difficulty.
  • It covers the age range from 4 years onwards.

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – PPVT-III-HR

  • A wide-range test that serves as a measure of receptive (listening) vocabulary in individuals aged from 2.5 to over 90 years.
  • It can also be used as a screening procedure for checking the verbal ability of children and adults, for screening giftedness and difficulties, for screening job candidates and as a measure of foreign language knowledge (when administered in a language that is not the person’s mother tongue).

• Gross motor function assessment

  • It is carried out with children and young people up to 18 years of age with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, using the standardised GMFM-88 and GMFM-66 scale (Gross Motor Function Measure).
  • It is based on current abilities to perform motor tasks and maintain postural positions and does not include any invasive procedures.
  • The scale consists of 88 or 66 tasks within five dimensions: A) lying and rolling, B) sitting, C) crawling and kneeling, D) standing, E) walking, running and jumping.
  • The purpose of assessing and determining gross motor functions is descriptive, discriminative, predictive and evaluative.
  • Analysis of the testing enables the planning and evaluation of therapeutic procedures for paediatricians, physiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, educational rehabilitators, kinesiologists and other professionals who work daily with children with developmental difficulties.

• Educational rehabilitation

  • An educational rehabilitation specialist carries out the assessment, treatment and evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment (developmental educational, habilitation and rehabilitation programmes).
  • An educational rehabilitation assessment is a comprehensive assessment of the child’s physical, cognitive, communication, emotional and social developmental capacities, on the basis of which further programmes for encouraging them are built.

• Sensory integration

  • The comprehensiveness of the assessment refers to the use of multiple sources of information.
  • A combination of non-standardised and standardised assessments that provide qualitative and quantitative data on sensory sensitivity is very important.
  • The tests provide information on the individual’s performance in tactile, kinaesthetic and visual perception, vestibular processing and integration, sensorimotor coordination and various aspects of praxis (imitating body positions, sequencing movements, following verbal instructions).

• Augmentative and alternative communication

  • The need for augmentative and alternative communication in early intervention depends on the nature and complexity of the child’s communication needs.
  • The communication needs of children and young people depend on aetiological factors, the role of communicative interactions in developing communication skills, assessment and intervention, and the availability of assistive technology.
  • The characteristics of the communication difficulties of a child who is a potential user of augmentative and alternative communication vary with the child’s chronological age and diagnosis, so distinguishing the different mechanisms and functions that contribute to different communication difficulties is a significant challenge.

  Augmentative and alternative communication covers communication tools and techniques used on their own or in combination to replace communication for people who have difficulties with verbal or written communication. It includes unaided techniques (pointing, gestures), low-tech aids (communication books and boards) and high-tech communication devices (devices and computers with speech output).

  Selection method – the way of physically accessing keys, buttons, fields or areas. Selection is most often made with the fingers, but it can also be made using different parts of the body or equipment (a pointer, a mouse, a joystick, a switch).

  Multimodal communication system – using different ways of communicating independently and with others, including speech, vocalisation, facial expressions, body language, gestures, signs, pointing, low-tech augmentative communication and high-tech augmentative communication.