Access to Assessment? Legal and Practical Issues Regarding Psychoeducational Assessment in Children With Sensory Disabilities

The need to provide valid and unbiased psychoeducational assessments to children from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds has been a prominent legal and judicial discussion in the context of the special education law; however, the question of how to provide biased and unbiased psychoeducational assessments to children with visual or hearing impairment has not been well addressed. This article discusses the case law and mandates surrounding unbiased psychoeducational assessment and how they might apply to students with sensory disabilities. This article focuses on issues related to assessment of children who are deaf or blind or have hearing impairment or visual impairment, including the inaccessibility of commonly used intelligence and achievement tests and the legal implications thereof, and provides recommendations for best practice in assessing students with sensory disabilities.