Detecting Changes in Support Needs Over Time.
SIS-A scores stay flat for years, so track the short ARP medical and life-activity items to catch real changes without retesting the whole scale.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tracked Supports Intensity Scale-Adult (SIS-A) scores for 1–3 years.
They wanted to know if the full scale or its short Annual Review Protocol (ARP) could spot real changes in support needs.
All participants had intellectual or developmental disabilities.
What they found
SIS-A total scores barely moved; support needs stayed stable.
Two ARP sections—medical/behavioral and key life activities—did flag meaningful shifts when they happened.
Use those items instead of re-giving the whole SIS-A to see if needs have changed.
How this fits with other research
Whitaker (2008) found the same pattern with IQ: most scores stay put, but about 1 in 7 adults shift enough to matter.
Mazur et al. (1992) saw stable WAIS-R scores over 2.5 years, backing the idea that big jumps are rare and real.
Lamoureux-Hébert et al. (2009) showed the French SIS is just as solid, so the stability finding crosses languages.
Woolf et al. (2010) linked higher adaptive scores to more independence—stable SIS-A plus rising ABAS-II could mean the person is gaining skills, not needing less support.
Why it matters
You can skip the full SIS-A at annual reviews. Watch the medical/behavioral and life-activity ARP items instead. If those creep up, reassess deeper. If they hold steady, keep the current plan and save everyone time.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pull last year’s SIS-A ARP, circle the medical/behavioral and life-activity scores—if any moved more than a step, schedule a full re-evaluation.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Assessment of support needs has received significant attention in the disability field, however, little is known about the stability of support needs scores over time. Data from 82 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who were reassessed with the Supports Intensity Scale-Adult (SIS-A) version as well as the SIS-A Annual Review Protocol (SIS-A ARP) were analyzed. The findings suggest stability of SIS-A scores over a one- to three-year period in adults with IDD. Several sections of the SIS-A ARP showed discriminative power, particularly sections that asked if there had been changes in a subset of specific life activities assessed on the SIS-A and in medical and behavioral needs. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.
American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-123.4.315