Informal Assessment Summary

I assessed Jack with a few different informal assessments including career

cruising, a soft spots activity, a goals worksheet, a visual transition plan, a job site interest
summary, self-determination questionnaire, and an ideal home worksheet. I decided to
informally ask him questions and write down his answers. This gave Jack time to think
about his answers and not worry about writing.
Career Cruising:
I spoke with Jack and his counselor about completing a career cruising
assessment. Jack stated that he already took the assessments and did not remember his
login information. His counselor was unable to attain his login information. He told us
that the assessment resulted in a career working with animals. This being said, we
explored the different careers on the career cruising website to make sure a job working
with animals would be a good fit for him. After researching the different job essentials,
Jack came to the conclusion that he would like to be an aquaculturist or an animal
breeder. He then could work with animals as well as people. Jack felt that he would be
able to hold one of these jobs for his future.
Citation:
Career Cruising. (2015). Retrieved November 3, 2015.

Soft Spots Activity:

This activity asked about troubling things in Jacks life, such as his biggest
insecurities, things that give him trouble, social issues, negative feelings, things that set
him on edge, anxious feelings, and more. Choosing this assessment option was

imperative to me because Jack has expressed that he has had major anxiety in the past.
The assessment touched on different domains in his life: education, home life and
employment. Jack stated that his biggest problem right now is not having enough money.
He wants to be able to make money so he can move out of his mothers house and into
his own apartment. He also wants to get his drivers license and a car, which requires
money.
Jack believes that the social setting he finds most troublesome in his life is at
work and at home. He thinks he is not professional enough, because he is too friendly.
Jack expressed that he likes to talk to people at work, but sometimes thinks he talks too
much about personal information. Jack often has negative feelings about his home life
and his insecurities. At home, Jack has two younger brothers who he does not get along
with most of the time. This causes Jack do develop negative feelings about being home
with his family. Jack is insecure about his physical appearance and how he behaves
socially. He wants to start working out, but getting a gym membership requires money
and transportation. Jack eats pretty healthy most of the time, but sometimes he likes to eat
cheap and accessible food, which most likely is not healthy. The reason Jack is insecure
about his social life is because he thinks he is awkward. He believes that people do not
like him and probably think he is weird. Jack is an open guy and will talk to anyone, but
sometimes this could put him at a disadvantage. Because he is so open, some people
think he talks too much or talks about information that is too personal to share. Jack
wishes he did not open up to certain people, usually people who he is not close with.
Jack does not really get upset or anxious often, but when he does it is usually
because someone is talking bad about him. He says he can turn his cheek if it is someone

he does not know, because the person does not know him entirely. Although, if someone
who Jack is good friends with is talking bad about him, Jack will get mad. He will not get
aggressive most of the time, but he will get heated internally. Jack had past experiences
with getting very anxious to the point where he had to be put on medication. Eventually,
he stopped taking the medicine because he felt like it was messing up his body. After he
stopped the medication, he started just dealing with his anxiety naturally. He stated that
you just have to hit the situation head on. He does not like to dwell about what is going
on, he would rather just work on changing it.
Jack wishes that he was more organized and worked harder. Jack stated that this
stems from him being lazy, which causes him to procrastinate. Procrastination causes
Jack not to complete homework in the required time limit. I was impressed by Jacks
honesty to verbalize his major life problems. He wishes that he was driven to go out and
find a job he really enjoys and to complete school with good grades. He does not like that
he has to rely on others. He wants to be able to rely on himself. The only barrier is, Jack
does not have a car. If he wants to go anywhere, he has to rely on his parents to take him
everywhere.
Jack will try to get his drivers license so he does not have to heavily rely on
others. He has a goal of getting a job he is interested in so he has a steady income and
enjoys working. Once he has money, Jack will get a gym membership and start to eat
healthy.
Citation:
Hartley, C. (2001). A Strengths-Based Communications Model. Interpersonal Skills for
the Helping Relationship.

Goals Worksheet:
This worksheet asked questions about dreams and aspirations in the areas of
personal life and professional life. I chose this assessment because Jack knows he should
be working on goals for the future, but he does not like to think far into the future. He
says that he likes to live in the moment. He likes the idea that he does not know what he
wants to do in his future. The unknowingness of his future intrigues him. This being said,
I felt like it was appropriate to have him think about the future.
He does not know exactly what he wants to do in the future for a job or education.
Jack thinks he wants to go to a community college or a trade school after high school.
Jack does not believe that he could get a postsecondary education. He feels as if he will
not make the grades to keep up with school. He would like to try a few different career
options before deciding on a job for good. The short-term objective needed to reach his
long-term goals would be to move out of his moms house, get a job, and graduate high
school. The people he could use as a resource to reach his short-term objectives would be
his dad and a career counselor.
Jack wants to look into apartment living, but he is nervous to see what the actual
cost would be to get an apartment. He also wants to look into the price of a gym
membership so he can get fit. Jack expects to achieve these goals no later than this time
next year. He wants to get a job as soon as possible though. The only barriers that will
prevent Jack from achieving these goals would be that he does not have a car and he is
lazy so he procrastinates a great deal.
Citation:

Luckner, J. (1996). Juggling Roles and Making Changes. In Teaching Exceptional

Children (p. 27). The Council For Exceptional Children.

Visual Transition Plan:

There was a lot of content in this assessment that Jack and I had already covered.
The only new information that I gathered was that Jack would like to possibly be a
Marine Biologist when he grows up. I also found out that he really enjoys playing video
games at home. He stated that he would like to have a job at Game Stop, but this may be
unreasonable for his long-term goals. We decided that a job working with marine animals
is a better fit for the long run.
The informal assessments allowed me to construct goals for Jack to meet in his
future. Jack does not know exactly what he would like to do in the future, but he has a
few different options. We will set goals to have him apply to a trade school or community
college. We will also set goals that help him get a job in order to make money to move
out and get a car.
Citation:
(teacher made)
Job-Site Interest Summary:
Since Jack did not know what he wanted to do in the future, as far as employment,
I decided to complete the job-site interest summary and explore a job that works with
marine animals. This allowed Jack to understand what was expected from the job. I
would have chosen a job at an aquarium, but since there are no aquariums in College
Station, I chose a job at Petsmart in the aquarium area. He liked that the job was around

people, easy-going, and that he could work with marine animals. He thought that the job
might get boring and he would not like cleaning the tanks day after day. He thought he
had all of the capabilities needed to complete the tasks and he would be able to retain the
steps to cleaning tanks. The job seemed easy for Jack. He decided that he liked the job,
but would not want to have it for the rest of his life.
Citation:
(teacher made)
Self-Determination Questionnaire:
This assessment looked at Jacks capabilities of self-advocating. I chose
this assessment because Jack does not easily identify himself as a person with a disability.
I wanted to know if he was capable of self-advocating if he needed help at school or a
job. Once I started asking him these questions, I learned that most of the questions did not
apply to Jack. Jack is high functioning and does not need much assistance. This being
said, he was confused why I was asking him such questions. Jack does not need many
accommodations or assistance. He did not know his rights for accommodations under
law. Jack does not participate in his IEP meetings and rarely uses his accommodations
during school. Jack did state that he would ask for help if necessary.
Citation:
Miller, R., Lombard, R., & Corbey, S. (2007). Transition Assessment: Planning Transition
and IEP Development for Youth with Mild Disabilities. Boston, MA: Pearson
Education.

An Ideal Home Worksheet:

This assessment focused on what Jack would want in a home and in a roommate. I
chose this assessment because Jack shows a strong interest in living independently after
high school. This made Jack realize what is essential in a home and what type of
roommate he would want to live with. He decided that he would probably live in an
apartment with one roommate, probably a friend. The apartment would have to have a
bathroom, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. Jack would like to live by the
beach, but he does not know how reasonable it would be. Living close to work would be
his preferred option. The only accommodation Jack would want is a list of numbers if
something broke in the apartment.
After we talked about what is essential in an apartment, we looked at what would
be negotiable and non-negotiable in a roommate. Jack stated the roommate would have to
be nice, clean after himself, produce limited noise, and pay rent. Jack stated that he could
negotiate if the roommate had a dog or a cat. The pet would have to be pleasant and not
ruin the apartment. Also, Jack would want to negotiate with his roommate on how
frequently people came over. Jack said he would like people to come over, but not every
day. The visitors must be respectful of Jack and the apartment.
Talking with Jack about an ideal home made him realize what is necessary in the
apartment and in a roommate. Now he will be able to choose an appropriate apartment
and roommate.
Citation:
Turnbull, A. (n.d.). An Ideal Home. Kansas: Beach Center on Disability.

These informal assessments allowed me to create goals in employment, education,

independent living, and recreation and leisure. Each assessment was chosen strategically
and made Jack think deeply about his future.