Home and Community Living Skills (Chart 3)

Transition Planning Assessment Areas	What are we Assessing	How can you assess it and how can you access the suggested data collection or assessment sources?
Cell 4: Home and Community Living Skills	Home and community living skills needed to perform daily living skills activities Definition: Skills necessary to complete daily and adult living activities. Daily home living skills are those activities adults do every day (e.g., preparing meals, budgeting, maintaining a home, etc.) Adult community living activities are important adult activities that are done occasionally, such as registering to vote, doing taxes, renting a home. Other examples of home and community living skills could include: managing money managing a household buying, preparing, consuming food buying and caring for clothing exhibiting responsible citizenship using recreational facilities and engaging in leisure getting around the community; access community agencies.	Review student files or portfolios to see if any home and community living skills have been documented from any previous assessment effort.
		Interview student to elicit self evaluation of those daily living skills and adult community living skills that are most related to the student's postsecondary goals for living situation preferences. Interview format may be brief with direct questions related to type and location of living situations.
		Interview parent(s) to elicit evaluation of those daily living skills and adult community living skills that are most related to the student's postsecondary goals for living situation preferences. Interview form may be brief with direct questions related to type and location of living situations.
		Conduct formal or informal observations of the student performing daily living and adult community living skills. Document observations in the student's file or portfolio. Many of these are difficult to obtain in the home or community, but simulated task observations at school may be a reasonable alternative, e.g., meal preparation, budgeting, etc.
		Conduct community-based situational assessment of life skills and community living skills. This type of assessment is most easily performed within settings that permit skills demonstrations, such as school environments containing kitchens, living areas, and bath areas or off-campus units in apartments, houses, or other home-like environments. Formats for assessing and documenting skills may include checklists or rating scales. An example of a checklist instrument is from Informal Assessments for Transition Planning (IATP), Comprehensive Inventory of Transition Knowledge and Skills, Items 12-16, pp. 18-22. Another example in one area of daily living is Assessment of Financial Skills and Abilities, also from IAPT, p. 108. Either or both of these may be used as informal assessment instruments independent of a community-based situational assessment. IATP (Clark, Patton, & Moulton, 2000) is published by PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757, www.proedinc.com
		Administer the Comprehensive Inventory of Transition Knowledge and Skills, Items 12-16, pp. 18-22. This inventory is Level 2 assessment from the Transition Planning Inventory (TPI) kit. It is an expanded list of daily living skills sub-competencies based on five daily living skills section items of the TPI: locating a place to live in the community, knows how to set up an apartment, house, or other setting, performs everyday household tasks, manages own money, and uses local transportation systems when necessary. The checklists appear in Informal Assessments for Transition Planning (IATP). A school representative, parent(s), and student may complete one or more of the five checklists together or independently until reaching consensus. IATP (Clark, Patton, & Moulton, 2000) is published by PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757, www.proedinc.com
		Administer a general transitions planning inventory that contains quick screening information on daily home and community living skills along with other areas of interest for postsecondary outcomes (e.g., Learning and Working). Two recommended options for general screening are the Enderle-Severson Transition Rating Scale-III (ESTR-III) for students functioning at the moderate to severe cognitive disabilities level or the Transition Planning Inventory (TPI) for students with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities or students with physical or sensory disabilities. The ESTR-III is published by ESTR Publications, 1907 18th St. S., Moorhead, MN 56560, www.estr.net The TPI is published by PRO-ED, Inc, 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757, www.proedinc.com
		Administer the Parents of Teenagers Survival Checklist from Informal Assessments for Transition Planning (IATP), p. 104-107 to the student's parent(s). This comprehensive checklist is an informal assessment that covers daily living skills in preparing meals, comparison shopping, getting around in the community, general life skills reading, home maintenance, operation of appliances, use of tools, communication, and transportation.. (Note: It also includes items related to health, personal grooming, and sexuality, areas of interest in Cell 7 IATP (Clark, Patton, & Moulton, 2000) is published by PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757, www.proedinc.com
		Administer one or more sub-tests related to daily living and community living skills from the Life Centered Career Education Knowledge/Performance Batteries. The knowledge battery is a standardized instrument but the performance battery is an informal assessment. The assessments may be general assessments or curriculum-based assessments associated with instruction using the Life Centered Career Education Curriculum. These two batteries were designed for students in Grades 7-12 with mild cognitive disabilities or mild to moderate learning disabilities or behavioral disorders. The LCCE batteries (Brolin, 1992) are published by Council for Exceptional Children, 1110 N. Glebe Road, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22201-5704, CEC Store link at http://www.cec.sped.org
		Administer one or more sub-tests from the BRIGANCE® Life Skills Inventory (LSI) to students as a general life skills assessment or as curriculum-based assessment of life skills instruction activities. The LSI is appropriate for high school students and young adults with mild cognitive disabilities and reading levels of grades 2-8. It may be administered individually or in groups, using oral or written administrations. Subscales include such relevant areas as functional writing, words on common signs and warning labels, telephone skills, money and finance, food, clothing, health, travel, and transportation. The LSI (Brigance, 1995) is published by Curriculum Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 2001, North Billerica, MA 01862, www.curriculumassociates.com/products
		Administer the Street Survival Skills Questionnaire (SSSQ) as a general life skills assessment. The SSSQ is an individually administered performance scale with new pictorial stimuli. The examiner orally presents a question, and the individual responds by pointing to one of four pictures presented on a page. SSSQ assesses nine specific areas relating to adaptive behavior. Test items are designed to closely resemble the tasks involved in everyday living. For children, the SSSQ provides an estimate of everyday living skills and functional disability. For older adolescents and adults, the SSSQ indicates their ability to live independently within the community The SSSQ (Linkenhoker & McCarron, n.d.) is published by McCarron-Dial Systems, P.O. Box 45628, Dallas, TX 75245. www.mccarrondial.com/catalog3
		Administer the Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment (ACLSA). The ACLSA is an evaluation of youth independent living skills. It consists of statements about life skills that the youth and his/her caregivers complete. There are ACLSA versions for four suggested age ranges: ACLSA-I for ages 8-10 (37 questions) ACLSA-II for ages 11-14 (62 questions) ACLSA-III for ages 15-18 (90 questions) ACLSA-IV for ages 19-25 (144 questions) ACLSA Short form for ages 11-18 (20 questions) Life Skill Areas Assessed: Daily Living Tasks Housing & Community Resources Money Management Self-Care Social Development (Communication, Relationships, Community Values) Work & Study Habits (Career Planning, Decision-Making, Study Skills) All assessments and the scored reports generated are free of charge. Access the instrument at Casey Life Skills web site.
		Administer the Responsibility and Independence Scale for Adolescents (RISA). The RISA is for students ages 12-19 with learning disabilities, are students at risk, or are juvenile offenders. It assesses students in domestic skills, money management, citizenship, personal planning, transportation skills, career development, self-management, social maturity, and social communication. The RISA (Salvia, Neisworth, & Schmidt, 1990) is published by Riverside Publishing Company, 8420 Bryn Mawr Blvd., Chicago, IL 60631, www.riverpub.com/products/risa/index.html
		Complete the Citizenship and Legal Skills rating scale from Independent Living and Community Participation: Informal Assessments for Transition, p. 36 ILCP (Synatschk, Clark, & Patton, 2008) is published by PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757, www.proedinc.com
		Administer the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS). The Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems is the most widely used system for assessing adult basic reading, math, listening, writing, and speaking skills within a functional context. CASAS is the only adult assessment system of its kind to be approved and validated by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor to assess both native and non-native speakers of English. The CASAS provides assessment in the areas of: Basic Communication Consumer Economics Community Resources Health Employment Government and Law Computation Learning to Learn Independent Living Skills The CASAS is published by a non-profit national consortium at 5151 Murphy Canyon Rd., Suite 220, San Diego, CA 92123-4339, www.casas.org

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