Diagnosing and Planning Interventions Using ABAS-3

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | Diagnosing and Planning Interventions Using ABAS-3Your adaptive behavior is your ability to handle everyday tasks and develop or maintain independence. The main components that make up adaptive behavior are conceptual, social, and practical skills. These change as individuals age. Therefore, individuals must learn more about diagnosing deficits and planning interventions. ABAS-3 is one tool that you can use to generate a diagnosis and plan an intervention for children and adults. Here is more on how you can use the ABAS-3 assessment for this purpose.

Functional Daily Living Skills

The most important part of planning an intervention is to provide an individual with their functional daily living skills, which allow them to complete various routines at home, school, work, and other locations. These are the crucial skills that allow individuals to develop and maintain their independence. Taking an assessment evaluates an individual’s skills, looking for strengths and weaknesses. The results identify which skills work best in certain environments and develop ways to help them transition to other locations.

Rating Scales

The major rating scale for these skills is the ABAS or Adaptive Behavior Assessment System. The forms for this rating scale include parents, primary caregivers, teachers, daycare providers, and adults. These gather information from each party that interacts with the respondent to provide a complete picture. This test uses all of these forms to evaluate individuals’ functional daily living skills of any age and give them a rating.

Composites and Skill Areas

The four composites evaluated with this test include conceptual, social, practical, and work skills. Conceptual skills include communication, academics, and self-direction. Social skills include leisure and socializing. Practical skills are those that contribute to communities, home living, health, safety, and self-care. Works skills are evaluated for older adults.

Item Ratings

After evaluating each composite, the assessment produces a rating. These show the ability of the skills to function in each environment. Additionally, they offer insight into how each skill transitions from one environment to another. The item ratings are the information the interventions and plans of implementation are based on.

Identifying Limitations and Addressing Them

The largest limitation of the assessment is establishing rapport between the assessor and the respondent. Additionally, it is important to make sure the respondents are properly prepared. Therefore, the assessor needs to explain the purpose of the assessment and emphasize the importance of honesty. Once the introduction is complete, the next step is to provide instructions on how to take the assessment. This allows for a proper evaluation of skill performance. The assessor is to remain available for any questions during the entire process. When all these steps are followed, there is more chance of an accurate diagnosis and successful intervention methods.

Adaptive behavior is a necessary part of being able to function and maintain independence. When a deficit is suspected, an assessment is necessary to diagnose the problem and institute intervention methods. While this particular assessment has the potential for limitations, there are ways to easily overcome these and create an accurate diagnosis so you can successfully implement intervention methods.

Learn more about adaptive behavior skills and how to assess them at WPS.

If These Signs Seem Familiar, It Might Be Time To Change Your Job

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Change Your Job|If These Signs Seem Familiar, It Might Be Time To Change Your JobIt can be difficult to accept that your dream job no longer reflects who you have become as you have got older and grown.

We fasten so much of our personas in our work, and to even consider changing that is extremely difficult.

Acknowledging that things are no longer working is difficult, but staying in a negative place that makes you feel less than great can be even worse.

Most people do not have a career path that is perfect or even linear. We all have times when it seems unfocused and unclear, with no real sense of where we will be in the next year or two.

Here, we look at some signs that you might just be ready to move on and find something else.

You are no longer engaged

If you have halted or reduced spending your discretionary work time doing things that may strengthen your work performance or other elements of your company, such as working on a shared project or a fundraiser supported by your company, you may not be as interested in your job as you once were.

Everything feels routine and boring

Routine work consists of simply going through the motions, with tasks running on cruise control. Working on a new project that once excited you but has now lost its emotional luster is an example. If you dislike routine work, a job change may be in order. You need a job that excites you – maybe teaching with Teach for America jobs, for example – no two days will ever be the same in that line of work.

Your colleagues are outperforming you

If your coworkers are getting more in terms of recognition and praise from your boss, or are standing out from you much more than they used to, it can be understandably discouraging. If you feel like you are not putting in the effort to get praised or your hard work is simply going unnoticed or unappreciated, it may be a sign that a change is in order.

You are no longer focused on your job

This essentially means that you are spending more time thinking about activities while you are at work than the work itself. This is not unusual, and while you will often have thoughts about activities at home or outside of work, if they become a fixation, you may want to consider changing careers or jobs. This usually occurs when you begin asking a lot of repetitive questions or you begin to find new things hard to understand.

Your progression has halted

When your opportunity to climb up the ranks stops or slows, or you realize that your depth of knowledge or experience is diminishing, it is reasonable to contemplate moving on. If you find yourself reporting to people who were once your colleagues, or even worse, if you hired them to work for you, it is time to move on.

Sometimes we are too near to the signs to notice them, or the signs appear little by little. We all become familiar or complacent with our jobs at some point. If this contentment causes you more discomfort than happiness then it is time to start to think about a change.

Is Your Store Looking a Little Run-Down? Here Are Some Great Ways To Make It Look New Again

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |make your store look brand-new again|Is Your Store Looking a Little Run-Down? Here Are Some Great Ways To Make It Look New AgainDepending on how long you’ve had your store open and whoever previously occupied the space, your store could end up looking a little run-down at times. There are a number of reasons for this. For instance, it could be because of general wear and tear, or it could be because your customers aren’t treating your premises with the most respect. Depending on the type of demographic you attract and the type of business you run, your store could go from looking brand-new to run-down in just a few weeks.

So what are some of the best ways to make your store look brand-new again? Here are a couple of great suggestions to get you started.

Revise the floor plan of your store

If you want to make your store look completely new then it’s worth taking a look at the floor plan. You could rearrange a lot of the display furniture to create an entirely different design. You could even throw out old displays and try out some new shelves to make things look a bit different. Your store might even benefit from a more open floor plan where you give your customers more space to browse instead of cramming all of your products into a small space. This can make your customers feel a lot more comfortable in your store and it can be a nice change of pace from what your store currently looks like. This can also make your store much easier to clean and maintain in the future.

Clean up the floors of your store

One of the most common areas of your store that might make it look run-down is the floor. You, your staff, and your customers walk all over the floor every single day, so it makes sense that it’s one area of your store that suffers the most general wear and tear. This is why it helps to invest in floor burnishers and cleaning services to make the floors shine and look brand-new again. You don’t need to do this very often, but it can make a huge difference in the overall appearance of your store. Alternatively, you might find it easier to hire a cleaning service every month.

Change the decor and try some new designs

It’s a great idea to change the decor and utilize a few new designs whenever you can. It doesn’t take a lot of money to change things like the colour of your walls or the paintings that you’re displaying. It’s a great investment to shift around furniture as well as long as it doesn’t reduce seating capacity in your store or restaurant. Try some new things and you’ll be surprised at just how different your store can look.

The idea of preparing your store for a renovation might sound really expensive, but it’s an absolute must if you want to make your store look brand-new again. Even if you have to invest a bit of time and money into it, it’s well worth it for the results.

Are You Certified?: The Benefits Of Certification In Business

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Business Certification|Are You Certified?: The Benefits Of Certification In BusinessThere are many different types of certification in business. These include food hygiene certificates, environmental certificates, fair trade certificates and financial security certificates, which are often given out by professional organizations. There are also various forms of individual certification which may be obtained by taking a course.

Some of this certification is mandatory if you want to work in a certain line of business, while other certification is voluntary. A lot of business owners can be hesitant about applying for voluntary certification – it can be expensive and may require putting in a lot of work in order to meet standards. However, such certification can often be worthwhile in the long run. Below are just some of the advantages to getting certified.

Develop your skills and knowledge

Many people become certified in a certain subject so that they can pursue a career in a specific industry. When starting your own company, you don’t have to prove to an employer that you have certain credentials – you are the boss. However, such credentials can still be important for helping you to develop necessary skills and knowledge.

For example, a course in leadership could help to earn you a leadership certificate. Such a course could help you to build valuable skills and knowledge on how to lead employees if you’re thinking of recruiting your first staff. This can help you to become a better leader.

Consider what skills and knowledge you could benefit from learning and look into courses. This could include university courses or short courses.

Give your company an improvement goal

Certification forces you to meet certain standards. It can motivate you to improve your business, making it more efficient and more ethical.

Many people want to grow and improve their business, but are unable to motivate themselves to make the necessary changes. Certification gives you something to aim for. It can often become a fun challenge for hotels to earn that extra star rating, for an investment firm to achieve GIPS compliance or for a farm to achieve organic certification.

Build trust among the people you work with

One of the biggest perks of pursuing certification is that it can improve trust among the people you work with. This can lead to more productive and successful relationships. Some of the people who may become more trusting include:

  • Customers: Many customers are more trusting of a business that is certified. Certification proves that you are able to meet certain standards and that you are therefore more likely to achieve good results than an uncertified company. Some customers will deliberately look out for trust badges, qualifications and awards before choosing a company to work with. Consequently, you could notice an increase in customers after becoming certified – it can become a valuable part of your marketing.
  • Employees: Employees are likely to be more proud working for a company that has certification. Pride in a company can lead to greater productivity. You may also find that more candidates are encouraged to apply for vacancies, helping to give you more options when hiring new staff.
  • Investors: Some investors will only put their money into a company if it is reputable and ethical. Certification can make investors more trusting of your business – it shows that you are already respected and less likely to be involved in a costly scandal.
  • Suppliers: You may even find that some suppliers are hesitant about working with a company that isn’t certified. Obtaining certification could allow you to gain the trust of more suppliers and give you more choice as to which companies you work with.

What Size Business Needs an Answering Service

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | What Size Business Needs an Answering ServiceConventional wisdom states you must have a medium to large size business in order to justify having an answering service. This truism arises primarily from the dated idea that those who answer the phone late are employees or are contracted to the company. While growing businesses with 50 employees or more by default really need to have a manned after-hours line, it is worth taking a look at the assumption that smaller businesses cannot afford an answering service. Of course, every industry is unique and no two companies within one industry are exactly the same. Despite this, you can still make some general inquiries into the need for and the cost of an answering service. The results might surprise you.

Small Business Is Helped Most by an Answering Service

Expanding large and medium businesses, as noted, seem to grasp the reality that having a real person answer the phone at all hours is not a luxury but a necessity. Research indicates, however, that the outfits which benefit most from a phone answering service are small businesses. Part of the dynamic has to do with the depersonalized manner in which business-to-consumer contact is initiated in the digital age. Statistically, most consumers believe their better chance of hearing back from a business when they have a question or an issue is by sending an email. Further, when a customer does call your business and gets an after-hours voicemail, only 20% of the time does that person leave a message. Unfortunately, studies reveal that many voicemails from customers linger for three days without being heard. Up to one in five customer voicemails are not responded to at all. The antidote for these ills is a virtual receptionist, an answering service that fosters an immediate connection between the customer and your business.

There Is a Difference Between a Call Center and Answering Service

Many business owners make no distinction between an answering service and a call center. A call center is a network of telephone agents that both receive and make calls primarily for marketing companies. Their work by definition is extremely high volume and impersonal. Should you ever reach the same person at the call center twice, it is strictly by chance. An answering service differs in that it is not a high-volume attempt to make sales on behalf of a number of businesses. The primary purpose of the answering service is to enable communication between a business and its customers as well as within the firm itself. This means the service often provides critical information that allows a sale or a business deal to be consummated. However, the answering service is not a pressurized sales unit, but rather a communication link.

Answering Services Can Offer Lots of Options

Another distinction between call centers and answering services has to do with options. Businesses that use call centers tend to be locked into a service that has limited flexibility in what it offers. A professionally managed phone answering service, on the other hand, offers a number of adaptable alternatives to its clients.

  • Payment options. The better services may give you the option of paying for their work by the individual phone call or the length of time the customer is on the phone. Since you know how long an informational call for your business usually lasts, you will immediately know which of these options is better for you.
  • Point of origin. Another plus that addresses a long-time concern of business owners is the origin point of the service. Some of the finest after-hours answering firms are based in the U.S.
  • Testing the waters. Finally, before locking your company into a contract without knowing how functional the service will be, you may want to find a service that allows a brief trial period.

An Answering Service Takes Your Business Global

Speaking of being U.S based, some businesses are concerned that an answering service will not be able to deal with international calls. After all, having 24/7 live voice support automatically suggests that people from different parts of the globe can do business with you. It is important to recognize that customers who call you will expect to be conducting business in English, which is universally regarded as the international business language.