We have created PARcares as a resource to offer a hand up to those most in need. With shareable videos, blogs, and lists of free resources, PARcares is our way to show how much we care not only for our Customers, but for those you serve.
If you think someone would benefit from these resources, feel free to share them directly or through your social media channels. We will be updating regularly with new and helpful content to be used and shared with everyone.
We are all in this together.
From FAR and FAM author Steven Feifer, DEd, comes the Feifer Assessment of Writing (FAW), a comprehensive test of written expression that examines cognitive, motoric, and linguistic processes to help explain why students may struggle with writing.
Students spend nearly 60% of their school day engaged in the process of written expression. The FAW examines the underlying processes that support proficient written language skills.
The FAW:
Learn more or preorder today!
We’ve heard the requests. And we listened! The PAI Plus is coming this fall!
The PAI Plus takes the existing PAI items and gives users an updated way to interpret the data. Using the PAI, an objective inventory of adult personality, the new PARiConnect report offers: • DSM-5® update: Updated diagnostic possibilities align with the DSM criteria. • Alternative Model Profile: An optional new profile scores in accordance with the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders. • Additional supplemental indices: Based on years of academic research, 15 new supplemental indices provide additional profile information related to negative and positive distortion and random responding. Supplemental clinical indicators provide profile information related to suicidality, aggression, level of care, presence of ADHD, and more. • Context-specific norm groups: Including profile overlays for bariatric surgery candidates, child custody evaluations, chronic pain patients, college students, deployed military, egg donors/gestational carriers, motor vehicle accident claimants, police applicants, and potential kidney donors. This profile is overlayed onto the examinee’s profile to allow for comparison. • Updated report: An updated look and feel create a streamlined and modern-looking report.
A manual supplement details the research, theory, and development behind this update.
To determine the right kit for your needs or to preorder, call Customer Support at 1.800.331.8378.
Do you see students or clients with symptoms like restlessness, excessive talking, or difficulty staying on task? Sometimes, it can be difficult to know if the behaviors are age-appropriate and typical or if they might be signs of ADHD–the primary developmental disorder of executive function.
Find out quickly with the new BRIEF2 ADHD Form.
Using results from the BRIEF2, the gold-standard instrument for assessing executive function, the BRIEF2 ADHD Form takes a three-step approach to predict the likelihood of an ADHD diagnosis. This knowledge helps parents, clinicians, and educators get children and adolescents ages 5 to 18 years the supports they need—both in and out of the classroom.
Scoring is quick and straightforward, and existing BRIEF2 scores (or PARiConnect results) can be used–there’s no need to retest. Scores are first plotted alongside skylines of scores from children and adolescents known to have ADHD to help evaluators get an at-a-glance view of how their clients’ and students’ ratings compare. Next, using classification statistics and an evidence-based approach, scores from the BRIEF2 Working Memory and Inhibit scales are used to predict the likelihood of ADHD and determine likely subtype. Finally, specific responses on individual BRIEF2 items are compared to DSM-5™ ADHD criteria.
Results from the BRIEF2 ADHD Form can help professionals develop Individual Education Plans and provide academic interventions and accommodations and help get students on the path to success.
Coming to PARiConnect this summer!
Recently, PAR Project Director Carrie Champ Morera, PsyD, NCSP, LP, interviewed Kirby Wycoff, PsyD, EdM, MPH, NCSP, the coauthor of Essentials of Trauma-Informed Assessment and Intervention in School and Community Settings to learn more about what inspired her to write this book, who would benefit from reading it, why it’s important to assess trauma in schools and community settings, and what she learned while writing it.
Check out the article under the Resources tab on the product page to learn from childhood trauma expert Dr. Wycoff!
Editor's note: This article refers to a promotion that has expired.
As remote testing becomes a necessity, PAR is working to assist our Customers. We are offering free e-Manuals to Customers who have previously purchased the printed version of manuals published by PAR.
If you currently don’t have access to a PAR-published print manual due to social distancing, we will provide you with free access to an e-Manual version of that same assessment for free. It’s our way of helping our Customers adapt and adjust to providing care remotely.
We’ve also developed a short video on how to use our e-Manuals. The video walks you through downloading and installing an e-Manual, then covers specifics on the convenient features our e-Manuals offer, such as search functions, bookmarks, etc.
To request your free e-Manual, contact Customer Support at 1.800.331.8378 or via e-mail at cs@parinc.com. Please reference your account/previous order information for the manual in question.
Dr. Carrie Champ Morera, project director, and Daniel McFadden, director of Customer Support, were thrilled to join Dr. Jeremy Sharp from The Testing Psychologist podcast to discuss telehealth.
They chatted about topics to consider regarding remote assessment, addressed concerns such as technology issues and cultural factors in remote administration, talked about PARiConnect, and provided information on how PAR continues to support clinicians during the COVID-19 crisis.
Listen today!
This week’s blog was written by Teri Lyon. Teri is a senior technical support specialist at PAR. She has been with PAR for more than 20 years. Today she imparts a little advice on how stepping away has helped her create balance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lately, it seems like we’re stuck in a stanza from Billy Joel’s hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”
Toilet paper, “Tiger King,”
PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING!
Wearing masks, stay on task,
DO NOT LEAVE HOME!
It’s pretty shocking to think that what we’re going through right now will be in history books for students to read about in awe and, hopefully, not in recognition. Being in Florida, we’re used to having to hunker down for hurricanes and dealing with power outages from what seems like a tiny summer storm. This, of course, is on a totally different level—the kind of level that can be overwhelming. Well, I have some advice:
STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER. STEP AWAY FROM THE TV.
Seems simple, right? Not so fast. If you’re like me, you want to know what is going on in the world and even your neighborhood. You want facts, data, information! Lately, though, it’s been a bit too much. Commercials are even referencing COVID-19, so you don’t even get a break when the show you are watching takes one. Is the information we’re getting even correct? Does anyone really know what they’re talking about? Separating fact from fiction is more frustrating than ever, it seems. So, just step away (but not like out of your yard, though, unless you are wearing a mask). I’m really just saying take a break from it all in any way that you can. Turn off the electronics. Pick up a pen, take a walk, take some pictures, take a break from it all.
I’ve had to embrace my inner introvert since this started. Around the three-week mark, I had to step away. For a full day, I didn’t so much as look at my phone. This was so helpful and really made me feel a lot better about myself, my family, and what we are doing to stay safe. After that day, I made an effort to balance my time. Think of a work–life balance situation but make it more of a COVID–no-COVID balance. Also, let your support group be your support group. Reach out and commiserate. Then, just step away for a bit.
PAR prides ourselves on providing the very best Customer service in the test publishing industry. Here’s a peek into how our Customer Support team has adjusted our services in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lauren Williams, Customer Support Specialist II: Customer Support has made some really great efforts in alleviating stress from our Customers in any way that we can. Aside from continuing regular services, we’ve also started to offer digital manuals for every printed manual purchased in the past. It’s also been really great having the opportunity to assist Customers with remote testing and teaching them about all the great aspects of PARiConnect.
Julia Klein, Customer Support Specialist II: I think most of us have become more in tune with our Customers, understanding their tone of voice, recognizing the stress or anxiety they may feel and altering how we speak or how fast we talk though something. Matching pace has probably been the most beneficial during the current climate to working with our Customers.
Kim Doscher, Customer Support Specialist: The current situation has created an immediate switch to telehealth that has brought along a whole new technological world for many of our Customers. These are unprecedented times that generate many questions and concerns. Our focus is on talking to our Customers and listening to their needs so that they can continue serving their clients. Whether it be learning how to use our online platform PARiConnect, navigating remote administration, or figuring out how to access our materials digitally, we are here to help!
Tamara Dwoskin, Customer Relationship Manager: Our Customer Support department has really adapted to what’s going on, staying on the pulse of what our Customers are asking for. We’re intent on developing creative solutions for what they need. A lot of folks were caught very unexpectedly with this pandemic, like we all were, and they are in pickles with what they are trying to accomplish, whether it’s training students as part of a university class, or maybe they had assessments scheduled and now they have to switch to teletherapy to get those things done. It’s on us to talk them through it. We want to be with them every step of the way if we can and develop those creative solutions that will really carry them through and help them accomplish their goals. We are up for that challenge. We already had the infrastructure to offer the support that’s needed during this time frame and we’re adding more as time goes on. We are constantly looking to how we can evolve to better meet the needs of our Customers. We’re here. We’re here for you. We’re here to listen. So call us and give us a chance to assist you at some point!
The COVID-19 crisis has changed the world as we know it. On a professional level, social distancing and safer-at-home guidelines mean that many practitioners are now using the internet and other technologies to stay in touch with their patients, clients, and students.
Although they can no longer come into the office, older patients with conditions causing cognitive impairment or dementia still need to be evaluated and monitored. Many of these patients may not be familiar or comfortable with video chatting or other common online tools.
The Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) can help. In clinical and research use for more than 30 years, the TICS was the first measure developed specifically for remote cognitive assessment. It provides a quick and easy way for clinicians to screen patients and clients for cognitive impairment and has proven itself in hundreds of studies and clinical trials. It has also been translated into several foreign languages and is available for licensing.
“The TICS is meant for remote assessment,” said test coauthor Jason Brandt, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Even if you can’t see the patient in person, you can still get an indication if he or she is having difficulty thinking, remembering, or communicating.”
Consisting of just 11 items, the TICS takes about 10 minutes to administer by telephone. A family member or other proctor is required to be with the examinee to ensure the environment is appropriate for testing. An S-level product, it can be administered by anyone with appropriate training, including nurses and trained research assistants. Results are reported using a qualitative impairment range and T scores.
With the current constraints of COVID-19, checking up on elderly patients who have or are at risk of having cognitive impairment is essential. “In just minutes,” Brandt said, “the TICS gives you a snapshot of the person’s cognitive functioning and allows you to make more informed clinical decisions.”
Learn more or order.