Guides to the common data collection methods, and interactive practice versions of two widely used indirect assessments. For learning and supervision practice.
An indirect assessment records what one person believes about a behaviour. The FAST and QABF below are screening and rating tools. They are one input into a longer process, and they sit alongside observation, data, and the person's own account rather than ahead of them.
Behaviour always makes sense in context. Before reaching for a function, ask what the person is communicating, what the environment is asking of them, and what would change if the demand, the setting, or our own behaviour changed instead.
A note on this work. Functional assessment can slide into looking for what is wrong with a person. Hold the other question open the whole way through: what is wrong with the fit between this person and what is being asked of them? A behaviour that serves escape is telling you something about the demand, not just about the person.
Data collection methods
The measure you choose shapes what you can see. Pick the one that matches the question you are actually asking, not the one that is easiest to collect.
Indirect assessments
Interactive versions of two published tools, provided for practice and supervision. Full attribution and source details appear inside each tool.
Before you start. Define the behaviour operationally, and run one behaviour per assessment. Answer as the informant you have in mind, and note where you cannot answer because you have never observed that context. Only enter de-identified information. Nothing you type leaves this page.
