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Pediatric Occupational Therapy Assessments
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Pediatric Occupational Therapy Assessments

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    In your practice as a pediatric occupational therapist, there are many pediatric occupational therapy assessments you can choose from to use with your clients.

     

    Choosing between all the available options may be daunting. We’re here to help narrow it down. 

     

    There are numerous factors to consider when deciding which occupational therapy pediatric assessments are right for your clients’ individual needs. 

     

    For the many occupational therapists delivering care through teletherapy, a big factor in choosing the right assessment is if it can be administered virtually.

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    This article includes a list of pediatric occupational therapy assessments to help you determine which may be best suited for use with your clients among the pediatric occupational therapy assessment tools available.

     

    This guide will also help you determine if specific pediatric assessments can be used in your virtual telehealth video practice. 

     

    Many pediatric occupational therapy assessments can now be completed online, providing electronic scoring and report generation, which saves you time.

     

    Included for each of these pediatric assessments is a brief description of the assessment, client age ranges, time to administer, scoring information, ability to use it via telehealth video sessions, and available languages.

     

    Early intervention occupational therapy pediatric assessments

     

     

    Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development- Fourth Edition (Bayley-4)

     

    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: 16 days-42 months

    Type of assessment: Activity-based

    Time it takes to administer: 30-70 minutes

    Description: This is a comprehensive test that can identify developmental delays in infants and young children. There are 5 subsections (social-emotional, cognitive, motor, adaptive, and language) of this test.

    Versions: 1 (there is also a separate screening test).

    Languages: English, Spanish

    Scorning: Q global or manual scoring

    Telehealth-friendly: Yes

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    Developmental Assessment of Young Children 2nd edition (DAYC-2)

     

    Publisher: Pro-ed inc.

    Age range: Birth-5 years

    Type of assessment: Rating scale

    Time it takes to administer: 10-20 minutes per domain

    Description: This assessment looks for possible delays across 5 different domains (cognition, communication, social-emotional development, physical development, and adaptive behavior)

    Versions: 1. Each of the 5 domains can be given and scored separately. 

    Languages: English

    Scorning: Manual 

    Telehealth friendly: Yes

     

    Peabody Developmental Motor Scales 2nd edition (PDMS-2)

     

    Publisher: WPS

    Age range: Birth-5 years

    Type of assessment: Activity-based

    Time it takes to administer: 45-60 minutes

    Description: These scales look at both gross and fine motor skills using 6 different subtests (visual motor integration, object manipulation, grasping, locomotion, body control, and reflexes)

    Versions: 1.

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual

    Telehealth friendly: No


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    Sensory processing assessments

     


    Sensory Processing Measure-2 (SPM-2)

     

    Publisher: WPS

    Age range: 4 months to 87 years

    Type of assessment: Rating scale

    Time it takes to administer: Approx 15-20 minutes per form

    Description: This assessment uses rating scales to look at a person’s sensory processing abilities at home, school, and in the community. 

    Versions: 1

    Languages: English, Spanish

    Scoring: Online or manual

    Telehealth friendly: Yes

     

    The Sensory Profile 2

    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: Birth to 14 yrs 11 months

    Type of assessment: Rating scale

    Time it takes to administer: 5-15 minutes

    Description: A checklist given to caregivers and/or teachers to assess a child’s sensory processing skills across environments (home, school, community).

    Versions: There are short and long forms

    Languages: English and Spanish

    Scoring: Online or manual scoring.

    Telehealth friendly: Yes

     

    Motor assessments

     

     

    Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration | Sixth Edition (VMI)

     

    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: 2-99 years, 11 months

    Type of assessment: Design copy

    Time it takes to administer: 10-15 minutes per test

    Description: This assessment looks at a person’s ability to integrate their visual and motor skills.

    Versions: Short or full forms of the VMI and subtests for visual perception and motor coordination.

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual scoring

    Telehealth friendly: Yes

     

     

    Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency | Second Edition (BOT-2)

     

    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: 4-21 years 11 months

    Type of assessment: Activity-based

    Time it takes to administer: 15-60 minutes depending on the form

    Description: This test looks at both gross and fine motor skills through game like activities. 

    Versions: Short form, complete form, gross motor form, and fine motor form.

    Languages: English

    Other notesOnline or manual scoring

    Telehealth friendly: Yes*


    *NOTE: “Practitioners should use their clinical judgment to determine whether assessment via telepractice is appropriate for a particular examinee, referral question, or situation. There are circumstances where assessment via telepractice is not feasible and/or is contraindicated.”

    Everything you need in one EHR

    Functional occupational therapy pediatric assessments

     

     

    Miller Function and Participation Scales (M-FUN)

     

    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: 2-7 years 11 months

    Type of assessment: Activity-based

    Time it takes to administer: 60 minutes entire test 20 minutes per subtest

    Description: This assessment looks at a child’s functional skills in the school environment. 

    Versions: 1

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual 

    Telehealth friendly: No

     

     

    School Function Assessment

     

    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: Elementary school-age children (K-6 grade)

    Type of assessment: Rating scale

    Time it takes to administer: 5-20 minutes

    Description: This assessment looks at an elementary school-aged student’s performance with functional tasks (both social and academic) within the school environment. 

    Versions: 

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual

    Telehealth friendly: Yes

     

     

    Visual perception tests

     

     

    Developmental Test of Visual Perception-3rd edition (DVTP-3)


    Publisher: Pearson

    Age range: 4-12 years, 11 months

    Type of assessment: Visual-motor

    Time it takes to administer: 30 minutes

    Description: This assessment looks at a person’s visual motor integration and visual perception skills through a series of 5 subtests. 

    Versions: 1

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual

    Telehealth friendly: No

    Everything you need in one EHR

    Motor Free Visual Perceptual Test, 4th edition (MVPT-4)

     

    Publisher: WPS

    Age range: 4-80+ years

    Type of assessment: Visual

    Time it takes to administer: 20-25 minutes

    Description: This is a line drawing test that assesses a person’s visual perception skills in 5 categories (figure-ground, visual closure, visual memory, spatial relationship, and visual discrimination) by asking them to choose the matching drawing.

    Versions: 1

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual 

    Telehealth friendly: No

     

     

    Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, 4th edition (TVPS-4)

     

    Publisher: WPS

    Age range: 5-21 years

    Type of assessment: Visual

    Time it takes to administer: 25 minutes

    Description: This test uses various line designs to assess a child’s visual perceptual skills in 7 different perceptual areas (visual discrimination, visual memory, spatial relationships, form constancy, sequential memory, visual figure-ground, and visual closure). 

    Versions: 

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual

    Telehealth friendly: No

     

     

    Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities (WRAVMA)

     

    Publisher: WPS or Pearson

    Age range: 3-17 years 

    Type of assessment: Activity-based

    Time it takes to administer: This test looks at a child’s visual motor skills through 3 subtests (visual motor integration, fine motor, and visual-spatial)

    Description: 30 minutes (10 minutes per subtest)

    Versions: 1

    Languages: English

    Scoring: Manual

    Telehealth friendly: No

     

    We hope you found this list of pediatric occupational therapy assessments and free pediatric occupational therapy assessments helpful.

     

    For those seeking free pediatric occupational therapy assessments, these assessments all have fees associated with accessing them.

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