Ethics and Efficacy of Verbal Testing of Nonverbal Children

Abstract

This article focuses on the ethics and efficacy of using formal assessment instruments with a nonverbal student having physical handicaps. Following a review of the literature and court case analysis, a case study is presented. A 9-year-old nonverbal (except for the use of gestures, pictorial cues, and a basic form of sign language to communicate) female student with physical limitations on the right side of her body was selected. The evaluations conducted by professionals at a children's hospital included eight areas, and the results were presented at a team meeting. Ethical and efficacy issues were generated because of the manner in which the scores for the assessment instruments were reported and used. Following observations made at home and in the classroom, it was concluded that the results of some of these instruments did not reflect the actual performance and ability levels of this student. The use of tests that require a nonverbal student with physical handicaps to answer verbally, or those that require the parents to make judgments based on the student's verbal abilities, clearly challenge the validity of the results.