As evaluators, we should look to the parent in these interviews as the expert in their child’s development, over time and in various contexts, to give us critical information leading to a differential diagnosis. In this second module, Cate reviews the critical questions that should be asked of the parent during an evaluation and begins the first part of the interview with Alex’s mother.
Category: Critical Questions
There are 10 critical questions that should be asked during the parent interview to collect essential information about the child to determine disability.
1. What exposure has your child had to different languages or dialects?
2. What is the highest educational level of the mother or primary caregiver?
3. Have there been any significant changes in the family structure recently?
4. Is there a family history of speech, language, and/or academic problems?
5. How does the child’s speech and language development compare to his/her siblings at the same age or to peers in the child’s speech community?
6. Was the child’s performance during the evaluation representative of how he usually acts?
7. What does your child do that makes you know (s)he is smart? Describe your child’s strengths and weaknesses.
8. What progress or regression has happened over the past 6 months?
9. Is your child clumsy?
10. Ask caregiver to bring in 10 examples of the student’s best communications and where they break down between the time you schedule the evaluation and you see the student.
Understanding Assessment: The Critical Questions
THECRITICALQUESTIONShandoutFinalCopy.pdf
Dr. Catherine Crowley developed these questions over the course of her clinical practice. She has found them to be the most effective and valid pieces of information needed by the evaluator in order to distinguish language difference from disorder, especially in culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Read More
Why is the Parent Interview so Important? (Preschool Disability Evaluations: Module 18)
This module discusses how the parent interview is the best tool for identification of language impaired children, not just from middle class families, but also from Spanish speaking families. Read More
Test Review: CELF-4
CELF-4 Test Review- Final Draftdocx.pdf
The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition (CELF-4) is a standardized test designed to assess the presence of a language disorder or delay in children aged 5-21. Read More
Clinical Judgment/Informed Clinical Opinion Part 1 (Preschool Disability Evaluations: Module 35)
This module begins to explain exactly what clinical judgment, or informed clinical opinion, is and how to use it during the evaluation process. Read More
How do we Know a Disability Exists? (Preschool Disability Evaluations: Module 27)
This module explains that the administrator must be able to “see” that the child has a disability, based on the data and examples included in the evaluation. Read More
Holograms Part 1 (Preschool Disability Evaluations: Module 22)
This module discusses the necessary data and information that must be in every evaluation so that the administrator can feel comfortable giving the child an IEP or not. Read More
Critical Questions 7-9 (Preschool Disability Evaluations: Module 21)
This module presents the last three of the nine critical questions. Read More
