Join this session for an overview on cultural competence when conducting psychological assessment with people with disabilities. To conduct a truly comprehensive psychological assessment, providers must attempt to answer questions from referral sources and solve complex problems by integrating multiple sources of information. This session will explore several problems that affect the psychological assessment of people with disabilities, including the presence of bias, unreliability, and questionable validity. Many disabilities, including physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities, can affect aspects of performance on psychological and neurocognitive tests, making it critical that examiners consider the individual’s disability, how it may relate to other functions, and delineate a strategy to ensure the appropriate construct is being measured. Dr. Andrews will introduce the concept of universal design in assessment planning, including test selection, administration, and scoring, and will explore differences between accommodations and modifications. Considerations for interpretation, report writing, and specific populations, and settings will be addressed. Dr. Andrews will illustrate ways to create a fair and unbiased testing environment and will emphasize the assessment and measurement of strengths.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Evaluate two problems that have been noted to affect the psychological assessment of disabled people.
- Describe how the presence of disability can affect performance on psychological and neurocognitive tests.
- Name two examples of disability accommodations in psychological assessment.
Qualification Level Required: A
Instructional Level: Introductory
Target Audience: Clinical psychologists, school psychologists, mental health professionals, educational diagnosticians, neuropsychologists, psychologists