Assessing the Tool-Use Learning Process in Persons with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore inter-rater reliability and rater experiences of applying the universal instrument Assessment of Learning Process (ALP) with persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. The study used a mixed-methods design. Inter-rater reliability was tested by eight clinical raters who assessed 23 video clips of people learning to use a powered AKKA mobility platform with a line-follower system. The raters were four occupational therapists, two special education teachers, and two speech-language therapists. The qualitative Think-aloud method explored three of the raters experiences of applying the ALP instrument. The inter-rater reliability test of the universal ALP instrument showed a moderate linear weighted kappa value (0.45). All eight raters’ estimated the degree of difficulty or confidence for each assessment. Content analysis of Think-aloud data elucidated three of the raters experiences of observing performance characteristics and interpreting tool-use understanding. The reported inter-rater reliability of the universal ALP instrument can be considered acceptable for an observational study involving persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Thereby, the results suggest that the ALP can be applied to this population. This is important as assessing a person’s phase in the learning process guides the choice of ALP-facilitating strategies supporting progress in tool-use learning, which in turn may expand a person’s activity repertoire and participation.