NCJ Number
84034
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
A Project New Pride diagnostician in Denver explains the types of tests and procedures used in diagnosing clients' academic, health, and social needs.
Abstract
Diagnostics is part of the holistic approach in which testing is limited to individual clients' needs and is oriented toward direct service. The diagnostic team itself is multidisciplinary, including a speech therapist, a clinical psychologist, a learning disabilities expert, and other specialists. Diagnostic tests are integrated to represent all the disciplines in individual, isolated testing situations. Test results are interpreted developmentally, oriented toward identifying an individual client's strengths and weaknesses, and correlated with counselor observations of the client's environment. Tests serve the purposes of placement, problem diagnosis, and evaluation. Communication of the diagnostic information is crucial in holistic team work; diagnosticians meet among themselves to integrate their conclusions, then communicate further with counselors (i.e., case managers, who present the diagnostic information to clients, families, and other involved agencies such as schools, courts, doctors, therapists, etc.). Extensive documentation and recordkeeping are required, for which checklists and forms have been prepared. Additional notes and observations must be recorded, strengths and weaknesses graphed, and narrative reports written. All conclusions are based on consistently observed behaviors rather than on single test time. The tests used include a basic academic measure and a self-concept test. If learning disabilities are diagnosed, a second and third level of testing may be administered. Projective psychological testing is used only upon request to tap significant emotional, not merely behavioral, problems. Assessments that recognize cultural differences among clients should be developed further.