Eligibility and Informed Clinical Opinion Beth Konde MS, OTR/L Shriners Hospital June 10, 2015

Eligibility Based on a synthesis of the data gathered from all assessment activities Medical records Administration of a norm-referenced assessment A family assessment Observation of the child in typical routines and activities A diagnosis of a medical condition that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay. A developmental delay in one or more areas as documented on a norm-referenced assessment of 1.5 standard deviations below the mean or a delay of 25% from the child’s chronological age and informed clinical opinion.

Informed Clinical Opinion (ICO) Appears in IDEA part C Used by EI professionals in the evaluation and assessment process to make recommendations for eligibility Uses Qualitative and Quantitative information Difficult to measure aspects of development What are some of the aspects of development that are difficult to measure? What types of assessment tools can providers use to measure difficult areas of development?

What ICO is not! Informed Clinical Opinion is not “eyeballing” a child for a few minutes and deciding whether or not she is eligible.

Key Components of ICO Multiple Sources of information Expertise and Experience Synthesizing

Multiple Sources of Information Parent observation and report Medical and Health information Provider observation

Expertise and Experience ICO may be used by qualified personnel to establish a child’s eligibility even when other instruments do no not establish eligibility

Provider Skills Needed The ability to use informed clinical opinion requires: Appropriate Training Previous experience Cultural sensitivity Ability to gather and use family perceptions

Synthesizing and Documenting The team synthesizes and interprets all available information Documentation should include: Who was involved on the team Description of procedures used Description of the functioning of the child State the decision of the team and rationale