Developmental Therapy
The DTORF-R is a practical, easily administered, classroom oriented, ordinal rating scale containing 171 items used to assess a student's social, emotional, and behavioral competencies. It covers development from birth to age 16 in four subscale domains: Behavior (33 items) Communication (35 items), Socialization (41 items), and Cognition (62 items).
Teachers, school psychologists support service professionals, supervisors, and parents use the DTORF-R to assess a student's current competencies and to identify developmentally relevant learning objectives in each of the four subscale areas. Results of a rating are used to design lessons that strategically target each student's learning objectives and to document a student's progress over time.
For students in special education, the DTORF-R provides a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) from which a developmentally appropriate Behavioral Intervention Program (BIP) is designed. The assessment also reveals missing social-emotional competencies needed for responsible behavior. These are then gradually added as learning objectives to their Individualized Education Plan (IEP), Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), or Individual Transition Plan (ITP).
DTORF-R ratings can be used to:
Identify a student's current social, emotional, and behavioral strengths and weaknesses.
Identify students in need of referral for special education or other services such as mental health or other related services.
Design programs of instruction in the social-emotional-behavioral domains for school, home, or mental health settings.
Make decisions about placement and grouping individuals for instruction.
Plan lessons that foster social-emotional competence and responsible behavior.
Document progress of individuals and groups.
Evaluate program effectiveness.
Autism
Spectrum Disorders and the DTORF-R
Autism Spectrum Disorders are developmental disorders which result in characteristics that vary in many complex ways. Differences in social skills, communication, cognitive skills, and stereotypical behavioral patterns may be as numerous as the children who qualify for the diagnosis. Not only will these differences manifest themselves among individuals within the identified population, they may also critically affect the same areas of development within a single individual. The challenge to the teacher is to assess these developmental differences and design a program that successfully builds on the strengths within each individual or group and accurately targets the next steps needed to promote further growth.
The DTORF-R can be used as a tool to meet this challenge. The DTORF-R can assist the teacher to define the competencies of children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the areas of socialization, behavior, communication and academics. By defining the student's competencies, the teacher can more easily make choices that reflect strengths and needed next steps. By examining the profile of developmental stages in typically developing children and youth, the teacher can make more effective choices of materials, behavior management strategies, activities and instructional environments. By using information gleaned from the DTORF-R, it is possible to employ strategies to teach individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders based not on a general diagnosis, but on knowledge of the developmental milestones that are present and at work within the student as well as within the peer group. This knowledge also allows one to select the most appropriate peer mentor to work with an individual child.
Additionally, the DTORF-R profile will also assist the teacher in determining which sensory materials and activities can be used to decrease sensory regulatory problems demonstrated by many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The educational setting is often a challenge for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders because of significant behavior management issues. Their lack (or atypical use) of language as well as deficits in social skill development foster behaviors that lead to disruptive and often unpleasant social interactions. The DTORF-R gives the adult definitive information regarding what language and social skills are in place, which are emerging, and which would be inappropriate to expect or to target. With this information, the teacher can select the behavior management strategies that address the child's needs and effectively move him/her toward increased competency in control of his/her own behaviors. Instead of using energy on blaming either the diagnosis or the child's lack of effort, the adult can proactively engage in strategies that will prevent unacceptable behaviors from occurring. When preventive measures are not successful, the teacher can employ the developmentally appropriate intervention strategies based on the profile resulting from the use of the DTORF-R.
Children or youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders who enter new environments often experience anxieties that may produce a return to previously used behavior patterns which may be maladaptive in the new environment. It may be difficult for the teacher in this new environment to know that the child is demonstrating regression rather than non acquisition of a particular skill. A review of previous DTORF-R assessments will quickly reveal whether or not the child had sustained mastery over a significant period. The teacher may then view the child's return to more maladaptive or immature behavior patterns as possibly temporary. This information will assist in determining what intervention strategies should be employed to help the child regain control and successfully participate in the new environment. Among the most challenging aspects of teaching individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders is engendering motivation to participate in activities. Although some individuals may be highly motivated by specific topics or activities, sustained attention to a variety of stimuli is often difficult to achieve.
When the DTORF-R is used to assess competencies and skills in different areas, the resulting profile provides a picture of the developmental stages and the accompanying goals and experiences valued by individuals in each stage. When the teacher takes an activity and modifies it to reflect the student's developmental profile, she can expect a higher level of participation. Activities are more motivating when they can be viewed as fun and within the level of skill possessed by the participant. Students who are solidly in Stage Two will not be motivated to participate in activities that depend on group cooperation and procedures, experiences occurring in later stages. Rather, activities or materials that focus on concrete experiences (typical of Stage One) will elicit familiarity, thus relieving anxieties and providing motivation as the child is introduced to new expectations.
A final important benefit of using the DTORF-R is its emphasis on the similarities, rather than the differences, between children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their typically developing peers. Emphasizing the differences will not further our goal for them to be included in the mainstay of society. Looking at their similarities will.
• Betty L. Martin Instructional Specialist/Autism
Prince George's County Public Schools
Maryland