The ARICD wishes to support practitioners in their professional roles during the Covid-19 pandemic and are putting together a Griffiths III telepractice assessment format to ensure that practitioners do not infringe the copyright.
Meanwhile, these points may be helpful for practitioners to consider:
- Practitioners should follow the advice of the country where they work and of their professional bodies in regard to social distancing and alternative methods of consultation, assessment, and treatment.
- For the four countries of the UK a document ‘Covid-19 – guidance for Community settings’ has been prepared jointly by RCPCH and BACCH and has useful information. This can be found at: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/covid-19-guidance-community-settings
- If assessment using Griffiths III cannot be completed in the normal standardised procedure, the scales may be used as a tool to obtain qualitative and /or quantitative information about the child’s developmental strengths and weaknesses. The quartile charts, available to registered users of Griffiths III, can be downloaded fromwww.aricd.ac.uk/resources.
- The American Psychological Association (APA) official guidelines for testing individuals with disability where tests may not be carried out according to standardised procedures are helpful to consider. The recommendations are generalisable to other situations where completed standardised testing may not be possible.
- APA Guideline 14: depending on the context and goals of assessment and testing, strive to apply the assessment approach that is most psychometrically sound, fair, comprehensive, and appropriate.
- APA Guideline 15: strive to determine whether accommodations are appropriate to yield a valid test score.
- APA Guideline 16: strive to appropriately balance quantitative, qualitative and ecological perspectives, and articulate both the strengths and limitations of assessment.
American Psychological Association: Guidelines for assessment and intervention with people with disabilities. Available fromhttp://www.apa.org/pi/disability/resources/assessment-disabilities.aspx
The ARICD also recommends that the results of clinical formulation and treatment planning take into account the views of a range of sources regarding the child’s development.
Infection Control
Where a face to face Griffiths assessment is carried out, standard Care of Equipment must be carried out in accordance with the guidelines in the Griffiths Manual Part II (page 2 second paragraph). In addition, equipment could be rinsed in clean water after cleaning in hot soapy water.
Covid-19 specific local health and safety guidelines must also be followed. This could include provision of hand washing facilities (with hot water and soap) and use of hand sanitiser for carers and children as well as practitioners, cleaning of surfaces and the use of gloves and masks.
Practitioners must follow the infection control advice specific to the countries and location where they work.
Training for Griffiths III
We are currently looking at developing Griffiths III Part II training courses in response to the current situation and should have some information soon.
Some good news!
Unrelated to the pandemic, we can announce that we reviewed the rules of 6 passes and 6 fails which have been used in the Griffiths Scales, including the Griffiths III, to achieve the basal and ceiling for each subscale. Further statistical analysis of the Griffiths III dataset has confirmed that the number of pass/fail items can be reduced from the current run of 6 to 5. Additionally, a 4 item basal and ceiling can be used if it is clinically appropriate, such as when testing with a child with disability. For researchers using the current 6 item rule, we advise that this rule continues through that research study. New research studies should use the 5 item rule for estimation of basal and ceiling levels.
This information will be available together with regular updates on the Griffiths III telepractice format on the ARICD website www.aricd.ac.uk.
With all good wishes for you and your family during these difficult times,
Dr Paula McAlinden, President ARICD and Dr Elizabeth Green, Chair Research ARICD