Needs Assessment Plan

Assignment 2

Needs Assessment Plan

Table of Contents

Introduction. 2

Needs Assessment Plan. 2

Importance of early diagnosis. 2

Family. 3

Four types of needs. 6

Need Assessment 6

Normative assessment 6

Felt Need. 7

Expressed Need. 7

Comparative Need. 7

Conclusion. 7

References. 8

The assignment is based on the developmental disability issue called Autism or autism spectrum disorder. This is stated as developmental disabilities because it creates trouble for children having autism to communicate with people in a social context and have regular education having special leading needs. However, this is an issue that can be managed by taking appropriate actions to identify the problem at an early age. Therefore, the detection of autism at an early age is important to ensure the development of children and make them eligible for being employed. Using a need assessment plan that will be using a developmental history, facts, issues, and observations of the patient. It will allow to direct a patient and its parent interview closely. It will serve as an examination of functioning to understand the cognitive, emotional, social, sensory and adaptive behaviour.  All these aspects are veal for conducting a full autism spectrum evaluation by a professional.

Importance of early diagnosis

Autism Spectrum Disorder can occasionally be recognised at the age of 18 months or younger in children. If it is detected at an early age, it becomes easier to undergo professional guidance and diagnosis. More it is delayed, more time it takes to understand need, diagnosis and requirements. Therefore, parents are always recommended to begin the diagnosis and begin self-screening at home. In many countries like United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Singapore, by the age of two, a professional diagnosis is often regarded quite trustworthy(McCarty et al. 2020). However, there are still children who do not obtain a definite diagnosis until they are considerably older by 3 years. This delay causes ASD to heighten and not receive the necessary assistance (McCarty et al. 2020). The need assessment plan will enable a suitable method to identify how quicker an ASD is identified in children within 24 months.

Most importantly, family need to conduct and maintain a routine well-child doctor visits. As per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), it is advised to parents that all children be assessed for developmental delays and impairments at home and then follow a routine check under a professional doctor (Wu et al. 2019). The first step towards identification is “AutismCase Study Training (ACT)”. This is conducted when the child is just nine months with follow up with18 months. If the parent or family believes that there is a high risk of developmental issues due to preterm delivery or low birth weight, further screening may be required under professional guidance.

Family

It is important for members of a family to screen children timely. Apart from children being diagnosed there is a dire need to offer anticipatory counselling to parents of a child who is autistic.  It becomes important to teach a family about what to expect in their child’s growth, how to nurture them, how to screen them, how to coordinate and communicate well etc. Also, under AAP, it is important for families as to how they may support development by monitoring and strengthening the provider-parent connection. If the family is able to adopt a relationship-based approaches, and the clinicians are able to create healthy parent-child interactions it will help in strengthening the parent-provider relationship (Thabtah& Peebles, 2019).

Screening Tool

The most important tool is the Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children (STAT) that acts an external icon and important for all screening. It acts as an interactive screening tool that has been designed for children. It can only be used by a professional when developmental concerns are suspected at an early stage of a child. This tool consists of 12 activities that help in assessing play, imitation skills, learning communication. It takes approximately 20 minutes to administer if there is any disability or issue (Thabtah& Peebles, 2019).

In order to perform the ASD Observation Schedule a family need to check the Genericexternal Icon that is referred as (ADOS-G) (Stone et al. 2018). This help to identify a semi-structured identification of an issue at an early age. Between 18-24 months, it is used by clinicians as standardised examination of social interaction and enhancement. Further, it improves cognitive attitude, behaviour, communication, and imaginative use for children suspected of having autism spectrum disorder at an early stage.

The tool holds an observational schedule that comprises of four 30-minute modules that are prepared uniformly within age group of 18-24 months (Stone et al. 2018). These modules, each of which is meant to be delivered to different individuals based on their expressive language level and communication skills.

There are parents who becomes worried about their child’s behaviour and development. Therefore, under clinical guidance, if the issue is located using screening tools like STAT as early as 16 months of age it becomes beneficial. It is found that there are many children with autism who do not obtain a formal diagnosis that hinders or restricts their learning as they grow up. The importance of screening tools will administer the STATTM, where both parents and doctors will be able to identify children at risk of autism and recommend them for further assessment and specialised care, diagnose and education.

Approaches to measurement

If a child who is suffering from ‘development disability’, it requires an early detection and treatment by a professional or a clinician. The first thing that is recommended to test autism in a child has been found to enhance cognitive functioning is a screening test. It is formed using a questionnaire that is following by phases that will help to assess social conduct and adaptive behaviour of that child. Besides, the major issue is ‘language understanding, explaining and language abilities significantly.

With the use of STATTM aclinician is able to detect autism risk at a young age. It is important to identify as it will restricts further growth and enable for more children to participate in specialised early intervention services along with awareness among family members. It is said that these screening tools are leading to better outcomes for more children who have developmental difficulties mainly between 18-24 months.It helps to measure the cognitive behaviour and adaptability that was created with numerous factors in mind.

Initially it was developed as a Level 2 screener for the age group of 18-24. This was created for use in referral settings with a specific goal of identifying children at risk for autism and development. It is found to be a tool that is effective in distinguishing two-year-old children with autism from those with other problems.

It acts as an interactive screening tool that is intended to be as engaging and enjoyable for both the kid and the clinician. It is easy to use by the parents as well.  As it is easy and is interactive, it systematises a stronger communication between clinician and the child. The child becomes comfortable with ease. It helps to address the key issue like communication, behaviour, language, adjusting, fear among autism impairments (Mazurek et al. 2019). It acts as an important observation of children’s behaviour throughout the screening may be utilised to create tailored treatment objectives within a clinical setting.

Methods of data collection and analysis

Being one of the important screening tools to identify developmental difficulties among children suffering from autism spectrum disorder, the STAT Training Tutorial includes a Test Kit that has been created under roper tests, application and results. It becomes an interactive web-based tool that will offer audio and video examples to identify how well the child is being able to develop amidst the surrounding. There are several practise tests as well as comprehensive teaching on item administration and scoring that help in assessing the child’s adaptive behaviour.

It is said that the STAT data help in communicating results to parents of an autistic child. Using that they are able to screen their own child from time to time.The test is conducted first by an interactive session, plays and a successful completion of the Tutorial Post-Test conducted by clinician. The results are systematically gathered, assessed in certification for independent usage of the STAT by the parents (Khowaja et al. 2020).

Along with the tool there comes a STAT Test Kit that includes one training session for certification purposes. This help in identifying developmental difficulties, issues of any kind. There are universities like Vanderbilt University who also offers one-day STAT Training Workshops to all (Kerr‐Gaffney et al. 2020).  They also organise seminars for parents, children, health care professionals inspreading awareness.

Need Assessment

Within the public health, the idea of need is crucial and desired.  Health care professionals utilised need assessment in health care planning and administration. It helps them to resource allocation, and equality. It is observed that ‘Need’, is a multifaceted notion with no one universal meaning. Normative need-A need defined by professionals (Janvier et al. 2019).

Normative assessment

There are demands that are not absolute therefore a normative assessment is utilised by various experts that help them to establish different norms and regulations. For example, when a child is suffering from autism spectrum disorder that restricts their development, the child and family members fail to achieve certain set criteria, therefore a normative demand arises.

Under a clinical screening if a SAT score is lower than the national standard or average for an autistic child, it becomes a matter of concern. It alarms that the child has developmental issue.  In order to determine perceived needs, it is common practise to ask individuals what they desire and therefore a proper diagnosis need to be conducted.

Felt Need

Every individual perceives a need. An autistic child’s views and understanding of services restrict perceived requirements. Therefore, a family plays an important role here. It is the family who will be able to identify the early signsand assess what is the feeling of a child who is less expressive. By clinicians, the felt need help in utilising this sort of data should be done with caution because perceptions of possibilities for an autistic child. It also helps to assess problems faced in regards to lack of social acceptance, and availability.

Expressed Need

After the felt need comes the expressive need where an autistic child is tested if they are seeking assistance on any kind of discomfort. It is important to check if there are available tools, screening and professionals available within clinical setting.

Comparative Need

If there are too many autistic children admitted within clinical setting, it is important to see, if there are enough available doctors and professionals to conduct testing. With a greater number of admissions, it is important to see which child requires what kind of care. The professional can find comparative need analysis helpful and effective.

An autistic child’s needs are discovered by comparing the services, diagnosis and testing. Using appropriate screening tools, a patient is provided with basic care. The family members are made aware using screen tools like STAT and similar so that they are able to use the kit to assess their children at home.

Janvier, Y. M., Coffield, C. N., Harris, J. F., Mandell, D. S., & Cidav, Z. (2019). The Developmental Check-In: Development and initial testing of an autism screening tool targeting young children from underserved communities. Autism, 23(3), 689-698.

Kerr‐Gaffney, J., Harrison, A., & Tchanturia, K. (2020). The social responsiveness scale is an efficient screening tool for autism spectrum disorder traits in adults with anorexia nervosa. European Eating Disorders Review, 28(4), 433-444.

Khowaja, M., Robins, D. L., & Adamson, L. B. (2018). Utilizing two-tiered screening for early detection of autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 22(7), 881-890.

Mazurek, M. O., Curran, A., Burnette, C., & Sohl, K. (2019). ECHO autism STAT: accelerating early access to autism diagnosis. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 49(1), 127-137.

McCarty, P., & Frye, R. E. (2020, October). Early detection and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: Why is it so difficult?. In Seminars in Pediatric Neurology (Vol. 35, p. 100831). WB Saunders.

Stone, W. L., McMahon, C. R., & Henderson, L. M. (2018). Use of the screening tool for autism in two-year-olds (STAT) for children under 24 months: An exploratory study. Autism, 12(5), 557-573.

Thabtah, F., & Peebles, D. (2019). Early autism screening: a comprehensive review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(18), 3502.

Wu, C. C., Chiang, C. H., Chu, C. L., Iao, L. S., & Hou, Y. M. (2021). T-STAT for detecting autism spectrum disorder in toddlers aged 18–24 months. Autism, 25(4), 911-920.