ABSTRACT
Individuals who have severe and multiple disabilities are an extremely heterogeneous group by ability, personality, experiences, and preferences. Observation, medical screening, referral, and non-discriminatory evaluation are critical to identifying children with severe and multiple disabilities and their learning needs. Assessment of children with severe and multiple disabilities include a strong focus on behavior and communication due to their impact on school and community inclusion and quality of life. The primary purposes of assessment are screening; diagnosis and testing; curriculum and program development; evaluation of student learning; and assessing program quality. The chapter addresses six issues that are influence the quality of life experienced by children and young adults with severe and multiple disabilities. The issues are: ethics and intervention, school and community inclusion, curricular tensions, self-determination across the lifespan, meeting the needs of pre-linguistic English language learners, and the relationship between research and practice.
