Callier-Azusa+Scale


 * The Callier-Azusa is a developmental assessment for children who are deaf-blind or have multiple disabilities.**

The below information was obtained from the Callier Azusa Scale (1974)

Criterion-references, judgement based developmental scale Test items taken from several other developmental scales 1978:Developed at Callier Institute in Texas to meet assessment needs of students who were deaf/blind and or had severe mental retardation. Has gone through several changes since development, based on field reports.
 * History**

1. To assess the developmental level of children who could not be adequately assessed by another assessment tool because they require the child to have specific language, cooperation, or sensory modalities, or because they lack comprehensiveness at lower levels of development. 2. To measure progress over time to determine the effectiveness of programming or specific educational or therapeutic strategies for a child. 3. To provide guidance, but NOT A TEACHING PROGRAM for planning developmentally appropriate educational programming for a child.
 * Three Primary Uses of The Callier-Azusa Scale**

I. Composed of 5 Areas a. Motor development b. Perceptual development c. Daily Living Skills d. Language development e. Socialization II. There are 18 subscales made up of sequential steps describing developmental milestones in each area. Some steps are further divided into items. Items describe behaviors that appear in a specific period of development, but are NOT in sequential order. III. The scale is based on ongoing behavioral observation in a classroom. IV. Must be administered by people very familiar with the child’s behavior (They must know the child for at least two weeks ) V. Administration requirements include strong observation skills and knowledge of the child’s behavior. VI. More accurate results are obtained by a group of people (teachers, parents, service providers, etc) who know the child well and can evaluate based on consensus (Multidisciplinary Approach) VII. For a step to be considered attained ** ALL ** items within the step must be integrated components of the student’s behavioral repertoire, spontaneously appearing, and generalized. VIII. Do not mark an item achieved if the behaviors are just emerging, occur infrequently, or only with prompting/manipulation, or not generalized. IX. Items that begin with “May” may be omitted if student has a specific sensory/motor deficit that would prevent them from demonstrating the behavior.
 * Description of the Callier -Azusa Scale**

· First determine the highest step that the student can achieve all items-circle that step · Check that the student has indeed achieved the levels of behavior described in the steps **lower than** the base step or at least have disappeared due to maturation. · Assess those behaviors appearing above the baseline and **write the appropriate letter next to the step numbers.** · **Underline** the step numbers above the base step if the student demonstrates all the behaviors on that step but has missed some in the steps between the base step and the higher step. · Record the age range for each domain on the summary sheet, including splinter skill age ranges.
 * Scoring**

See the CZ.pdf on the wiki for the detailed criteria for assessing developmental levels and scoring.

Advantages: 1. Determine what developmental skills are missing 2. Easy to administer 3. Multidisciplinary Approach 4. Assess what you observe in school 5. Can show progress for students with severe disabilities between birth-8 years old 6. See preferences for sensory needs 7. Assessment across 5 domains

Disadvantages: 1. Developmental level not applicable if the child is over 8 years old 2. Results are skewed. 3. Child does not receive credit for partial participation 4. Family input and values not considered  The below power point presentation was obtained from the following link online: nationaldb.org/documents/products/Callier-Azusa_Scales.ppt This is useful because it gives you examples of different assessment items on the Callier-Azusa Scale.