Identifying strategies to help children with special needs is a crucial step toward improving the quality of their education and designing the framework to promote the active acquisition of the relevant skills and knowledge at the earliest stages of their development. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and the related legal mandates, when a disability is suspected, it is required that the school should carry out a comprehensive assessment to understand the student’s current psychoeducational functioning and offer appropriate and tailored recommendations (e.g., classroom accommodations) from multiple professional perspectives (Dodd, Franke, Grzesik, & Stoskopf, 2014). Therefore, it is imperative to introduce a tool that could provide adequate and necessary information about the current needs and issues of the child. One tool is a multidisciplinary assessment, which has been defined as the evaluation of the areas of the child’s developmental strengths and needs (New York State Department of Health, 2005; National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, 2010).
Elements of a Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Assessment
The essential elements of a multidisciplinary assessment are often contingent upon the unique objectives and aims of the evaluation process. For instance, when endeavoring to meet the needs of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, one is expected to have a set of elements required specifically for managing the needs of the identified population on the list of the assessment elements (e.g., standardized testing, direct observation, review of academic records). Furthermore, the services of a psychologist, a speech pathologist, and an OT/PT, as well as educators, including the principal and the teacher, will have to be considered. The significance of collaboration between the school personnel, healthcare experts, and parents should be listed among the primary elements of a multidisciplinary assessment as well (National Association of Special Education Teachers, 2017).
That being said, several items can be viewed as the constituents of an abstract multidisciplinary assessment that can be used to define a mental health concern in students. First, basic ethical issues need to be addressed, including informed consent for assessment. Retrieving informed consent from students or their parents (in case the learners have not reached full age yet) must be viewed as a crucial part of any multidisciplinary assessment; furthermore, students with mental conditions will have to receive the approval of their legal guardians (National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, 2010).
Next, the problem-solving model as the basis for the design of the assessment should be viewed as the most important element of the multidisciplinary assessment (National Center for Biotechnology Information, n.d.). Although the concept is not novel, it helps to design an elaborate approach for meeting the learners’ needs by determining the barriers that students face in the course of learning and introducing the tools for overcoming these problems successfully. Thus, the identified element helps design the framework for managing the issues faced by learners with disabilities.
It is crucial to make sure that every single detail about the factors affecting the personal development of a student should be taken into account prior to the assessment. Thus, objective results can be retrieved in the process of evaluating the learners’ abilities (The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, 2017). Therefore, the data from not only learners but also their educators as well as parents or legal guardians should be utilized. Cooperation and information exchange among parents, educators, and healthcare experts creates prerequisites for a comprehensive overview of the target population’s progress (State of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).
The identification of the annual goals of the educational institution is the next step toward designing the assessment. Furthermore, the external factors affecting the performance of learners (e.g., the school environment, school policies) must be incorporated into the assessment process. Thus, an objective evaluation of learners can be conducted (McInerey & Swenson, 1988).
The use of the eligibility criteria as the basis for determining possible developmental issues in learners must be considered the next step toward a comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment. The students must be evaluated to determine the possible presence of mental, learning, and behavioral disorders. As a result, educators will be better informed about the teaching strategies that they will have to use to meet the learners’ needs (Overton, 2006).
Finally, the recommendations for planning the appropriate program must be provided to educators. Furthermore, individualized education programs can be modeled to promote active knowledge acquisition among all learners. Thus, equal opportunities for students with disabilities will be created, allowing them to engage in the academic process and raising motivation levels among them (McLoughlin & Lewis, 2008).
Furthermore, the fact that the multidisciplinary assessment incorporates not only the evaluation of the learners’ performance but also their needs should be mentioned. It is important to make sure that not only the intellectual potential of the learners but also their current needs must be identified. Therefore, the multidisciplinary assessment will have to incorporate the tools that will allow determining the current needs of the learners based on their background, progress, and unique characteristics. Additionally, it is important that the assessment should help measure the physical abilities of the child. As a result, possible health issues, such as hearing impairments, vision-related issues, as well as any other factors that may inhibit the process of learning can be identified. Consequently, the appropriate teaching strategy will be designed.
Conclusion
Conducting a multidisciplinary assessment is a crucial step toward creating an academic environment in which all learners will be able to develop the necessary skills and acquire essential knowledge. Therefore, it is imperative to introduce the multidisciplinary assessment framework to thoroughly assess a student’s current psychoeducational functioning and offer necessary recommendations based on data gathered.
References
Dodd, J. L., Franke, L. K., Grzesik, J. K., & Stoskopf, J. (2014). Comprehensive multi-disciplinary assessment protocol for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Intellectual Disability – Diagnosis and Treatment, 2(1), 68-82.
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. (2017). Early identification: Screening, evaluation and assessment. Washington, DC: ECTACenter.
McInerey, W., & Swenson, S. (1988). The principal’s role in the multi-disciplinary assessment team. Washington, DC: National Association of Secondary School Principals.
McLoughlin, J. A., & Lewis, R. B. (2008). Assessing students with special needs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
National Association of Special Education Teachers. (2017). Assessment in special education series. Web.
National Center for Biotechnology Information. (n.d.). Diagnostic assessment. Web.
National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (2010). Comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities. New York, NY: NJCLD.
New York State Department of Health. (2005). Standards and procedures for evaluations, evaluation reimbursement, and eligibility requirements and determinations under the Early Intervention Program. New York, NY: Bureau of Early Intervention.
Overton, T. (2006). Assessing learners with special needs: An applied approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
State of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Multidisciplinary evaluation. Lansing, MI: Department of Health and Human Services.