Though commonly thought of as a sports injury, concussion can occur as the result of everyday play, too. Each year, more than 1 million children and adolescents are diagnosed with a concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). About 30% of these injuries are non-sports related.
When children and adolescents return to school following a diagnosis of concussion, they may have functional difficulties (like trouble concentrating, memory problems, and irritability) that can affect their ability to perform and learn in school.
The new PostConcussion Executive Inventory™ is an evidence-based instrument for children ages 5 to 18 years used to assess functioning and monitor recovery following concussion. It measures change in cognitive and emotional regulation to determine if postconcussion-related behaviors are due to concussion or were present prior to injury. This information helps schools develop appropriate return-to-learn plans that address the student’s specific postinjury needs, which may include temporary accommodations and interventions.
Items for the PostConcussion Executive Inventory, the first in a new ConcussTrack™ suite of products, were selected from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function®, Second Edition, the gold-standard rating form for executive function testing.
Learn more about students returning to school following concussion on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HEADS UP to Schools webpage.
The PDDBI family of products is growing! Free interactive training on how to use PDDBI products is now available on the PAR Training Portal. Whether you are a long-time user and want a greater understanding of the product or are considering purchasing for the first time, this course will give you greater insight into the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the decisions made when developing the PDDBI, and how the different components work together. The PAR Training Portal is a free, on-demand resource available 24/7. Visit partrainingportal.com today!
In addition, we are pleased to announce the release of the PDDBI Parent Form in Spanish! In addition to the Spanish form, we are releasing a white paper by Amy Kovacs Giella that explains the translation process. According the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 13% of the U.S. population primarily speaks Spanish at home. With autism diagnoses steadily rising, identification of Spanish-speaking individuals who may be at risk is vitally important. With the introduction of the PDDBI Parent Form in Spanish, this significant portion of the population can now benefit from the PDD Behavior Inventory product family for detection, diagnosis, and progress monitoring.
Life is all about making choices. The Trails-X improves on traditional trail-making tests by allowing individuals to truly blaze their own path—they select a start and create their own path to success. Effectively measuring an individual’s executive planning through a more realistic task, the Trails-X assesses both executive planning skills and efficient decision-making in less than 10 minutes for individuals age 8 to 79 years.
The Trails-X is an innovative take on the traditional trail-making task that includes additional executive function demands by requiring examinees to connect circles of alternating colors with no designated start or end point.
Individually administered, the Trails-X offers nine trails that assess adaptive planning, coupled with psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility, impulse control, flexible attention, and the ability to adapt to novel or changing situations. The examinee is asked to draw straight, nonoverlapping lines connecting circles of alternating colors and continue until all circles are connected. Individuals must work carefully to avoid crossing lines or being forced to discontinue before the task is complete. Examinees must plan their path and adapt while working as quickly as possible.
Learn more!
The Emotional Disturbance Decision Tree (EDDT) family of instruments gives you insight from three distinct viewpoints—teacher (EDDT), parent (EDDT-PF), and self (EDDT-SR).
Though each form can be used individually, the full potential of the EDDT family is realized by garnering a trio of perspectives. See the advantages gained by in a case study presented in our new white paper by Jennifer A. Greene, PhD, and EDDT author Bryan L. Euler, PhD. You’ll also get information about the EDDT Multi-Rater Summary Form, a tool that can help you interpret statistically significant discrepancies between raters.
Learn more about the EDDT family.
PAR is proud to announce that our Executive Chairman and Founder, R. Bob Smith III, PhD, has been honored by the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP), a division of the American Psychological Association (APA). SCCAP has named a new award after Dr. Smith to recognize his efforts in supporting and producing evidence-based psychological assessment measures and procedures. In a further honor, the award will be presented annually at the APA national convention, beginning at this year’s convention, Aug. 8–11 in Chicago.
The Bob Smith III, PhD Psychological Assessment Award will be given each year to an individual, a group, or an organization that has advanced the field of scientific assessment in individual psychological functioning, mental health, learning, or social and intellectual development.
Another unique feature of this award is that recipients will have the opportunity to present a workshop at the APA national convention designed to instruct practitioners in the use of a cutting-edge psychological assessment product or procedure, or on a topic clinically relevant to psychological assessment.
To ensure the award will continue in perpetuity, SCCAP, industry colleagues, and friends of Dr. Smith have created and funded an endowment. If you would like to support the Bob Smith III, PhD Psychological Assessment Award and its contribution to society, please consider a tax-deductible donation. For more information on how to contribute, please contact PAR Customer Support or call 1.800.331.8378.
The staff at PAR is known for its generosity, volunteerism, and love of animals. These three traits tied together March 23 at Bark in the Park, an annual fundraiser for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay held in downtown Tampa.
The event featured a variety of animal-themed events, games, and vendors and culminated in a Walk for the Animals along Tampa’s picturesque River Walk. The PAR team, known as the PARty Animals, was this year’s second-highest fundraising pack. Several pack members brought family and fur-friends in support of the event, and one pack member even adopted a new member of the family!
Overall, nearly 100 teams and more than 450 participants helped the Humane Society exceed its Bark in the Park goal by raising nearly $150,000. Those funds will be used to house, heal, and help rehome thousands of local animals.
One of PAR’s core tenets is to give back to the community, and our employees frequently donate their time and resources to help local organizations like the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Learn more.
Join PAR's discussion group on our LinkedIn page!
Originally started as a group for our University Partnership Program, we’d like to invite all PAR Customers to join our group where you can ask questions about—or share your experiences with—our assessment products. The group is designed to encourage the discussion of academic uses, research pursuits, and assessment instruction using PAR proprietary instruments. Whether you are teaching students how to use assessment products and looking to share ideas with other instructors, using a PAR product and looking to connect with other users, or simply wanting to discuss assessments with other professionals, this group is an open forum for discussion on the use of PAR products.
Join the discussion! https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8668065
Last week, during the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Annual Conference in Atlanta, PAR sponsored the Trainers of School Psychology (TSP) poster session. Of 37 submissions to the poster session, three were randomly chosen as winners.
PAR is proud to announce these three posters as winners of the TSP poster contest!
Best practices in enhancing suicidality assessment skills using simulated patients
Stefany Marcus, PsyD, and Alexa Beck, MS, Nova Southeastern University
An empirical study of the perceptions of program accreditation by university program coordinators
Alana Smith, Ashley Carlucci, Dr. Jim Deni, Dr. Elizabeth M. Power, St. Rose University
Teaching psychoeducational assessment: Putting evidence-based practice to work
Sandra Glover Gagnon, Hannah Walker, and Haley Black, Appalachian State University
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the participants!
PAR is proud to announce we have added a white paper to the BRIEF-P product page. This resource will help users learn more about enhanced interpretation of BRIEF-P ratings. The BRIEF-P is the first standardized rating scale designed to specifically measure the range of executive function in preschool-aged children.
You can find the new white paper under the Resources tab on the BRIEF-P page or via direct download from parinc.com/BRIEFP_white_paper.
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Annual Convention will be held February 26 to March 1 in Atlanta and the PAR booth will be the place to be! If you’re going to NASP, please stop by to say hello! We’ll have product samples, giveaways, and you can win a BRIEF2 or FAR kit! Plus you can meet some of your favorite authors!
Here’s a link to see when our authors will be available at our booth.
There are also a number of informative sessions being offered that are relevant to your favorite PAR products, many of them being presented by PAR authors. Here is a link to a complete listing with dates and times. We hope you’ll make time to attend one or more of them.
But wait—there’s more! PAR will be offering special discounts on any purchases made at the PAR booth during NASP. You’ll save 15% on your order and we’ll include free ground shipping!
We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!