Exploring Theatrical Expressive Tasks for Children With ASD

Profiling Elements of Prosodic Systems in Children (PEPS-C)

Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C) is a semi-automated test battery for assessing receptive and expressive prosody skills. It has been used in several studies of the speech and understanding of children with high-functioning autism/Asperger's syndrome (see Prosody and autism spectrum conditions). It is intended for use by language teachers, clinicians and researchers in assessing prosody in any conditions in both children and adults. PEPS-C comprises 14 tasks, addressing receptive and expressive skills in parallel. The tasks are at two levels, examining prosodic function and prosodic form respectively. The assessment of skills at two levels helps to determine the level at which a testee has a problem with prosody, thus enabling better targeting of intervention. The range score is min 0 -max 192.

Pragmatic Skills in the Medea Language (APL MEDEA)

APL Medea is an assessment battery for pragmatic language skills developed at the Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology Service of the IRCCS 'Eugenio Medea'. Structure: Metaphors (M), divided into Verbal Metaphors (MV) and Figurative Metaphors (MF): investigates the ability to understand metaphorical language. Comprehension of implicit meaning (CSI): assesses the ability to draw inferences about non-explicit content, range scores min 0 -max 72. Comics (F): assesses the ability to understand and respect the dialogic structure in a communication, range scores min 0 -max 72. Situations (S): assesses the ability to understand and appropriate the meaning assumed by particular expressions in social interaction, range scores min 0 -max 72. The Colour Game (GC): assesses the ability to use language in a referential manner and use skills related to "Theory of Mind", range scores min 0 -max 72.

Test for understanding emotions (TEC)

This test assesses the presence and development of emotional competence in children aged 3 to 11 years. The test consists of 23 numbered cardboard plates. The first five boards depict four different emotional expressions each, alternating randomly. For each of them, the child is asked to identify a specific emotion. The structure of the remaining boards is instead unique: for each component, the upper part of the board represents a small story with emotional content, where the face of the protagonist is left blank. The lower part, represents four different emotional expressions, from which the child is asked to choose the corresponding one. The administration is individual. From the application of the instrument, the authors came to the identification of a meta-emotional competence divided into three developmental areas categorisation of emotions in relation to their nature, understanding of the causes of emotions, control of emotions. The range score is min -0,3 - max 3,78.

Movement Assessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (ABC-Movement - 2)

The Movement ABC-2 battery identifies and describes the movement difficulties of children and adolescents from 3 to 16 years of age. The battery enables assessment and intervention planning in line with the bio-psycho-social model of human functioning. The Movement ABC-2 battery consists of 3 components: A standardized test consisting of 24 tests divided into groups of 8 tasks for 3 age groups (3-6; 7-10; 11-16), for 3 competence areas (Manual Dexterity, Aiming and Grasping, Balance). In addition to the total score, it is also possible to obtain separate scores for the three competence areas. The range score is min 1- max 19. An observational checklist consisting of 43 items divided into three sections, it must be completed by an adult who has the opportunity to observe the child in his/her daily motor activities. A manual checklist that describes the ecological approach to intervention for children with movement difficulties.