Play-Based Assessment

PLAY-BASED ASSESSMENT

Over the last ten years, there has been increasing focus in both research and practice on the relevance of natural environments to assessing and treating children with special needs, and on the importance of play in child development. Informed by this research and experience, pediatric professionals from a number of disciplines have sought to improve their methods of assessment by incorporating play and taking advantages of opportunities to assess child performance in more natural contexts. This has led to the creation of a number of play scales and to the use of play as a medium in which to gauge child development.

The Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment, by Toni Linder, Ed.D., is one of those tools created to allow a team “to create an accurate, intricate, dynamic portrait of a child, “ using play as a medium for the observation and assessment of cognitive, socio-emotional, communication, language, and sensorimotor skills and performance. It was originally published in 1990, with a revised edition and a companion work (Transdisciplinary Play-Based Intervention: Guidelines for Developing a Meaningful Curriculum for Young Children) published in 1993.

Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment (TBPA) is a model of assessment that allows the content, sequence and personnel involved in the assessment to be altered depending on the needs of the individual child. Parents are involved in all portions of the assessment, and are treated as partners in the assessment process. Parents meet with the team prior to the assessment, and at some time afterward, for interpretation and discussion. They participate in the actual assessment as well.

The TBPA assessment team typically includes at least 3 people other than the parent. It is recommended that those include a speech-language pathologist, a physical or occupational therapist, and a teacher or psychologist, as these disciplines’ expertise relates directly to the Observation Guidelines of the TBPA. Other team members may be incorporated. During the assessment, team member assume the following roles :

1.  play facilitator who interacts with the child

2.  parent facilitator who interacts with the parent(s)

3.  observers

4.  videocamera operator

During the actual assessment, there are several phases of play:

Phase 1: Unstructured facilitation – child takes the lead, and the play facilitator follows that lead

Phase 2: Structured facilitation – facilitator is more directive, asking the child to perform or engage in particular play activities

Phase 3: Child-child interaction – once again unstructured play, but with another child in the play environment

Phase 4: Parent-child interaction – parents are asked to engage in play with their child in a manner that is typical or usual for them (i.e., how they play at home)

Phase 5: Motor play – begins unstructured, with a variety of equipment/activities n the room, then moves to more structured to encourage child to do the activities they have not yet done

Phase 6: Snack

Detailed guidelines for observations are provided within TBPA, and cover developmental domains of cognition, social-emotional development, communication and language development, and sensorimotor development.

Other key features of the TPBA are:

·  the TBPA is designed for children developmentally between infancy and 6 years of age

·  results of the TBPA can be used for identifying service needs, developing intervention plans, and evaluating progress

·  the TBPA is designed to be implemented by a team, including the parent, insuring a holistic and thorough look at the child’s strengths and needs

·  the TBPA can be conducted in any play environment (careful planning prior to the assessment assures that appropriate toys and materials are present or available)

·  content and concurrent validity of the TBPA have been supported in research and by professional judgement of experts in child development

·  test-retest and inter-rater reliability have also been well-supported in research

The TBPA provides a flexible, dynamic and holistic perspective on a child’s individual development, including strengths and needs. It recognizes the importance of play as a natural context for development, and acknowledges the expertise and contributions of parents as well as of a variety of pediatric professionals. For more information on this model, please refer to:

Linder, T. W., (1993). Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment: A Functional Approach to Working with Young Children, Revised Edition. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Linder, T. W., (1993). Transdisciplinary Play-Based Intervention: Guidelines for Developing a Meaningful Curriculum for Young Children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co..

Categories of Observations on TPBA

Cognitive

·  Categories of Play

·  Attention Span

·  Early Object Use

·  Symbolic and Representational Play

·  Imitation

·  Problem-Solving Approaches

·  Discrimination/Classification

·  One-to-One Correspondence

·  Sequencing Ability

·  Drawing Ability

Social-Emotional

·  Temperament

· 
Mastery Motivation

·  Social Interactions with Parent

·  Social Interactions with Facilitator

·  Characteristics of Dramatic Play

·  Humor and Social Conventions

·  Social Interactions with Peers

Communication and Language

·  Communication Modalities

·  Pragmatics

·  Stages

·  Range of Meaning

·  Functions

·  Discourse Skills

·  Imitation/Echolalia

·  Phonology: Sound Production System

·  Semantic and Syntactic Understanding in Verbal Expression

·  Comprehension of Language

·  Oral Motor

·  Other Concerns

Sensorimotor

·  General Appearance of Movement

·  Muscle Tone/Strength/Endurance

·  Reactivity to Sensory Input

·  Stationary Play Positions

·  Mobility in Play

·  Other Developmental Achievements

·  Prehension and Manipulation

·  Motor Planning