The last blog post covered executive functioning. Another term you might hear associated with evaluations are adaptive behaviors. Overall, these are everyday skills and abilities a person needs to navigate their daily lives with the least amount of conflict and most success. Obviously, expectations change a great deal over the course of a person’s life. These typically follow a course from needing total care from others to being fully independent. For example:
A 2 year old can typically indicate if they need their diaper changed
A 3 year old typically stays dry during the day
Most 5 year olds can fully redress themselves after trips to the restroom
Most 7 year olds stay dry overnight
An average 10 year old will usually wash their hands without a prompt after using the bathroom
A 15 year old can often find a restroom in public
Most adults can effectively maintain cleanliness of a restroom, so it is safe to use
The same type of trajectory can be identified for almost any skill, such as social and communication skills, community living behaviors, healthcare behaviors, etc. The typical age range within a specific behavior emerges is often very wide, but the more delayed a skill is, the more cause for concern there may be.
Adaptive behaviors are often assessed as part of evaluations for neurodevelopmental concerns. They are a standard aspect of evaluations if overall cognitive delays are suspected or known, and they are often included in evaluations for autism. Seeing that an individual has higher needs for support in meeting their daily needs can offer evidence that an individual would benefit from access to specific programming, funding, etc. At Stratus, assessments of adaptive behaviors are most commonly used during adult guardianship evaluations, although they are integrated at other times as appropriate.