Supporting practitioners in school‐based evaluations of autism spectrum disorders

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have vastly different educational needs. Although some students with ASD may perform well across subjects within the general education classroom, other students with ASD may need more individualized support outside of the classroom. Historically, ASD assessments in schools have primarily focused on the measurement of cornerstone behaviors of ASD such as deficits in social communication and restricted or repetitive behaviors while underestimating the focus of academic skills even though both factors are required in the evaluation process and for an eligibility classification. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of academic assessment practices in the schools by highlighting best practices in ASD evaluation, outlining ASD academic profiles and how to identify academic skill deficits, and reviewing the available literature that comes from different formal‐ and function‐based assessment practices that are commonly used in schools today. The authors also discuss how formal‐ and function‐based assessments both serve a purpose and are recommended to be used in conjunction with one another to best demonstrate a student's academic profile. Practitioners are ultimately encouraged to use a multi‐informant, multi‐modal approach when it comes to psychoeducational evaluations for individuals with ASD as it is evident that an individualized approach is essential due to the discrepancy of academic profiles related to this disability category as well as understanding that no measure is a perfect representation of any one skill. Key points Educational assessments evaluating autism historically have focused on cornerstone autism spectrum disorder (ASD) features while underestimating the importance of academic skills. Autism produces a wide variety of student profiles and assessments should be comprehensive including both function‐based assessments and formal‐based assessments. Common formal and function‐based measures for ASD were reviewed. Recommendations for best practices across educational evaluations for autism should include function‐based assessments in conjunction with formal‐based assessments.