How do the professional screen for AS

[simplydeb]

Screening has been mentioned to us but we are not sure what they mean. Any ideas how the professionals go about screening? Thanks.

[Zemanski]

screening can be done in various ways.

 

some schools do whole class screening for things like dyslexia in foundation or KS1. This may involve a check list that a teacher marks off for each child or a computer programme that can test for ability levels in different aspects of language and compare them with achievement or can check hand-eye coordination and eye movement to pick up characteristic patterns.

 

Dot's school screens for irlen syndrome which can cause literacy problems and is associated with dyslexia and autism. They have 2 trained LSAs and screen any child who is slower than average to develop letter and word recognition or has any difficulty with reading or writing. The tests they do are individual and involve analysing patterns, reading with coloured overlays and a questionaire about headaches, tiredness, enjoyment, etc.

 

I know there are some schools now that screen for behaviour problems including ASDs. They mostly use a tick list for each child and a key worker will observe each child at play and in more formal activities looking at various behaviours. This is usually done in an early years setting.

 

the idea of screening is not to diagnose but to pick up warning signs so that a child's needs can be investigated further and, if necessary, the child can be referred on to a specialist as early as possible.

 

even the best screening programme cannot pick up every child that has a problem (AS, in particular, can be very hard to spot in the early years) and there will always be a certain percentage who are picked up and turn out not to have any real problems

 

the problem with screening is that it is very time consuming, especially if you want to be thorough and screen for several things, and it is costly both to train the staff and set up the systems(most of which are commercial) - most schools don't feel that they can afford it for the small numbers of additional children that screening picks up even though they understand that the benefits for that small group of children can be enormous.

 

screening is usually done in as relaxed a way as possible and the child will usually find the activities fun, or be completely unaware that it is happening. If you child is going to have an individual screening for ASDs it will probably involve both observation in various settings and specific activities. You will probably also be interviewed about your child's development.

 

it is generally a fairly pleasant experience for the child although it can be tiring

 

Zemanski

Edited July 18, 2005 by Zemanski

[simplydeb]

Thanks Zemanski, you have been a real help, we had allsorts going through our heads. thanks, Simplydeb