Real-Life Example of ABAS-3 Use to Evaluate Adaptive Skills of 29-year-old Man with Intellectual Disability
Intellectual ability, or intelligence, refers to a person’s mental capacities like learning, reasoning, and problem-solving. Generally, intellectual ability is measured using an IQ test. A low IQ score can indicate a limitation in intellectual ability.
Intellectual disability affects adaptive behavior, which is the practical, conceptual, and social skills needed to perform in everyday situations. People with intellectual disabilities often don’t fully understand language, literacy, interpersonal skills, social responsibility, problem-solving, self-care, or safety.
It’s crucial to evaluate the adaptive skills of those with intellectual disabilities using a comprehensive tool like the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS-3.
A Real-Life Example
Chris is a twenty-nine-year-old male with severe intellectual delays. The ABAS-3 helped to better understand his current levels of achievement, intellectual development, and adaptive behavior for the purpose of reviewing, and perhaps changing, his current intervention program.
Chris’s parents and his supervisor at the Regional Vocational Day Center, where he goes every weekday, used the ABAS-3 to seek counsel in developing an intervention program to improve Chris’s social behaviors and increase his independence.
Chris does not have a consistent schedule because his father works irregular hours at the electric generation plant. He often goes to bed around 2:00 am and gets up again at 7:00 am. He also doesn’t have any ongoing peer relationships outside of the vocational center where he works.
Chris’s mother tries to engage the thirteen-year-old boy down the street. He comes over occasionally and talks to Chris about video games, but Chris does not seek out new relationships by himself. While his cognitive skills are limited, Chris’s behavior is not a problem.
Treatment of Intellectual Disability Using the ABAS-3
Chris’s assessment took place at the vocational center, and the results were consistent with previous evaluations. The results showed that Chris’s visual-spatial processing ability is slightly more advanced than his quantitative reasoning.
Both Chris’s mother and his supervisor completed the ABAS-3 Adult Form. They achieved similar results when scoring Chris’s abilities and they both agree Chris needs mild to moderate levels of support for developing adaptive behavior at home and the center.
He needs assistance picking out appropriate clothes and often requires prompting to respond when others speak to him. He cannot prepare meals or do household cleaning tasks. He also shows no significant strengths or weaknesses in adaptive skills.
The ABAS-3 assessment successfully identified areas in which Chris’s parents could make more of an effort to encourage Chris to spend time with peers. They are generally overprotective and have not thus far supported this behavior.
They also agree that establishing a regular schedule for Chris could help him to operate more independently. With training on how to set an alarm, he can get up on his own every day instead of relying on his mother.
The ABAS-3 helped identify some long-term goals for Chris’s behavior. With the help of this intervention and treatment plan, he will eventually be able to live in a group home and socialize with peers. Chris’s supervisor plans to entrust Chris with some additional tasks that fall within his range of skills.
By using the ABAS-3, Chris’s parents and supervisor were able to better understand his intellectual disability, identify areas of improvement, and implement an effective treatment plan. To find out more about the
(ABAS-3) Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Third Edition, look at WPS online.