As psychological testing becomes more prevalent in the workplace, education and clinical setting, people who have minority status in terms of disabilities or ethnic origin might need special accommodation so that they can perform in the best of their abilities. Three of those special populations are as follows:

Some people who have physical / mental challenges might need

special accommodations during testing to ensure that their test

scores are accurate.

SENSORY IMPAIRMENTS – includes deafness and blindness.

MOTOR IMPAIRMENTS – includes disabilities such as paralysis and missing limbs.

COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS – includes mental retardation, learning disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries.

The room must be free from distractions.

Must give ample time for testing.All material must be within the reach

of test takers.Room lighting must be for optimal

vision. Increases test print size.

Amplify the test administrator’s voice, with use of electronic amplification apparatus.

The test administrator may have ability to communicate in other forms such as writing etc.

When interpreting scores, test takers should understand that communication of the deaf is often fragmented.

Test administrator should choose test that fit for takers with motor impairment. Test that doesn’t need to be modified.

There must be an available writer to enter taker’s responses on paper and pencil tasks.

Must be tested using structured interview, usually with family members or friends of test takers.

VISUAL IMPARMENT- - Haptic Intelligence Scale (intelligence)- Cognitive Test for the Blind and Visually

Impaired (cognitive ability) - Sound Test (personality) HEARING IMPAIRMENT – - Child Behavior Checklist (intelligence), - Test of Nonverbal Intelligence

(cognitive ability) - Devereaux Adolescent Behavior Rating

Scale (behavior)

MOTOR IMPAIRMENT – - Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey

(perceptual-motor skills) - Frostig Movement Skills Test Battery

(sensory-motor skills) COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT – - Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (adaptive

behavior) - Career Assessment Inventories for the

Learning Disabled (career assessment) - Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitude Test

(sexual knowledge and attitudes) - Reading Free Vocational Inventory

(vocational preference)

Unlike physical / mental disabilities, a learning disabilities does not have visible signs.

It can be divided into three broad categories: developmental speech & language disorder, skill disorder and other disorders.

It is referred as those who belong to various minority groups based on race, cultural or ethnic origin, sexual preference, family unit, primary language, and so on.

END

-RE Gonzaga