AssessmentMethods

Cerebral palsy is a severe and visible disability and therefore will often be diagnosed before the start of kindergarten. The BC Special Education Services manual states that "In such cases, existing assessment and programming information should be requested without undue delay to permit planning.” What this means is that the student will be immediately referred to a school-based team, who will evaluate the assessments made previously by medical and other professionals, in order to create an IEP for the student. The assessment of a child with cerebral palsy for designation within the school system would include all of the following information provided by the child’s interdisciplinary healthcare team:
 * · Medical history (including developmental delays in crawling, walking, etc)
 * · Motor skills
 * · Muscle tone
 * · Posture
 * · CT to determine if areas of the brain are underdeveloped
 * · MRI to find areas of brain damage
 * · Intelligence testing to determine developmental delays
 * · Evaluation of mother’s prenatal and delivery history
 * · Detailed evaluation of child’s abnormalities and behaviours

Because children with cerebral palsy sometimes have concurrent problems with learning disabilities and may suffer vision and hearing impairment, the school may have to order these additional assessments. Another aspect that may not have been assessed prior to entering school is the degree to which the cerebral palsy inhibits speech. The student may need a speech pathology assessment as well.

Although by secondary school it is most likely that a student with CP will already have an IEP, there is still a role for the teacher to play.

A teacher may:


 * · observe learning and behaviour, assess learning needs
 * · introduce and evaluate the success of various instructional techniques and materials
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">· consult with the parent and student about concerns and progress

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">Different classes have different physical demands, and so as a classroom teacher, you may be the first to notice that your student with CP needs a new adaptation.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">When it comes to the assessment of learning, the most common adaptations that students with CP need are laptops and extra time. If laptops are not permitted, e.g. in a provincial exam, the student may need a scribe. It is important to remember that cerebral palsy itself does not affect the student’s intellectual capabilities. Most students with cerebral palsy do not need modifications to the curriculum.