It’s November and you’ve established classroom routines and procedures with your students, implemented homework and maybe even have a had a couple of IEP meetings…and now it’s time to get serious about…DATA!

This month’s theme at TAH is Behavior and Academic data, and what better way to kick off this essential theme then by featuring the most comprehensive test that you will give your students…that’s right! I’m talking about the ABLLS-R!

In case you are not familiar with the ABLLS-R…it stands for The Assessment of Basic Language & Learning Skills. It is an assessment, curriculum guide, and a skills tracking system for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. This assessment focuses on 25 basic learner skills, basic academic skills, play and leisure skills, social skills, self-help skills and motor skills.

Here are five ways I use the ABLLS-R results in my classroom…

1. Set It Up!

Gather all the materials you will need to complete the ABLLS-R with your student. I make sure I make copies of the ABLLS-R recording sheets and organize them in binders by student, in order of their IEP meetings for the year.

One TAH product I find essential when implementing the ABLLS-R is the ABLLS Resource Kit. This kit includes pretty much everything you need to administer the test! Store it together in a convenient place so you are able to assess your students.

 

2. Show it Off! 

Share your ABLLS-R results at IEP meetings, parent-teacher conferences, grade-level meetings and in any professional responsibility write-up.It is a great visual to explain to parents what skills their child already has mastered and the skills they need to work on. Sharing the ABLLS-R results with staff members can help other teachers and administration gain perspective of what you do as a special educator. I have also uploaded results and attached them to students’ IEPs. Don’t be afraid to show off these colorful and functional graphs!

3. Here I go again on my own…

Use the ABLLS-R results to create individual programs or IEP goals for your students. I make most of my students’ IEP goals from the ABLLS-R and create instructional programs based off the goal. While that sounds like a lot of work, fear not! TAH has you covered again with programs and data sheets that go with some of the ABLLS-R skills! Click on the links to discover some of the instructional programs you can use with your students: Discrete Trial Goal Sheets and Data Forms Set 1, Discrete Trial Goal Sheets and Data Forms Set 2, Discrete Trial Goal Sheets and Data Forms Set 3.

 

4. Group Up!

I noticed that many of my students needed to work on the same ABLLS-R skills. Rather than making them individual goals, I decided to create a morning-meeting, called Daily Language Meeting 2.0 that addressed these skills. This meeting is a great opportunity for repetitive practice. Students participate both orally and by copying written responses. Since the meeting follows the same format each day, you can plug in several different examples. It is also a great way to establish a routine in your classroom!

5. Come Together!

I have used the ABLLS-R frequently in collaboration with other teachers and related service providers. The vision teacher has helped me to adapt this assessment to meet the needs of my students who are blind. The speech-pathologist and I have used the ABLLS-R to help develop goals  I frequently meet with the speech pathologist to discuss individual students’ goals. I have also provided our gym teacher with the gross motor skills in order to help structure his gym classes with my students.
I hope you consider using the ABLLS-R with your students or plan on continuing to use it! It gives you so much valuable information, allows you to highlight individual student needs and makes your job easier!