Practitioner Update, April 1998
Public Relations and Communications
Practice Directorate
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What is the state of the art in assessing adaptive functioning in mentally retarded persons? Faced with this complex question, the Social Security Administration (SSA) recently turned to psychology for help. SSA is the federal agency responsible for making disability eligibility determinations on the basis of mental retardation and a host of other factors.
APA member Alan Barclay, Ph.D., received a November 1997 letter from SSA identifying 'adaptive functioning' as key among several issues on which the agency required guidance from practitioners. In collaboration with the Practice Directorate and Division 33 (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities), Dr. Barclay organized and chaired an APA work group to address the SSA's information needs.
The federal agency sought clarification about current professional practices related to the assessment and diagnosis of mental retardation, as well as criteria for determining disability program eligibility with respect to mental retardation. Among its specific questions, SSA asked the psychologists about primary standardized assessment instruments, the various settings in which these evaluative tools are used, and how to assess adaptive behavior in individuals without the use of a standardized test.
The nine psychologists on the work group issued a report to SSA in February. The agency already has used APA's input for training SSA decision makers regarding mental retardation determinations.
In addition to Dr. Barclay, the Div. 33 work group members included Doctors Raymond Conroe, John Jacobson, Henry Leland, James Mulick, Donald Routh, Wayne Silverman (Div. 33 president), Sara Sparrow, and Keith Widaman.
