Authentic Assessments for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Individual student assessments, formal and informal, provide the essential framework of the exceptional education process. Mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) 2004, these laws determine the needs and programs that will be implemented for every child identified to receive exceptional education services. Collectively, norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, and authentic assessments complete a comprehensive portrayal of the student\u27s academic, behavioral, and functional needs and skills. This paper outlines the various elements of authentic assessment and how they can be implemented with individuals identified with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as well as other students. The main purpose of including authentic assessments is to build on the strengths of the individuals rather than focusing on the deficit model which is generally the criteria of the special education model (Skrtic, 1995)