The Capability and Independence Scale (CAIS)

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The Capability and Independence Scale © is a new assessment and planning tool to evaluate a student’s capability levels and intensity of need. The CAIS© is a strengths-based assessment that quantifies a student’s abilities within seven quality of life areas. Used in student transition planning the CAIS can 1) acknowledge challenges, 2) paint a picture of a person’s life’s as it relates to his/her abilities and interests, and 3) determine broad supports that make quality of life outcomes achievable, i.e., employment, college, healthy living, continued emphasis on higher capability and independence.

Unique features:

Emphasizes an individual’s strengths, not limitations.
Examines capability levels within two contexts, ‘independence and ‘broad creative supports’
Contains an emotional area.
Useful in IEP, consumer-directed planning, or person-centered planning.

Ten unique benefits the CAIS© offers:

1. Determines broad creative supports that meet the individual’s intensity of need.

2. Offers new options for diagnosing behavioral issues and finding solutions.

3. Emphasizes strengths and what youth are capable of doing.

4. Validates progress when interests and meaningful activities are initiated.

5. Useful in determining goals and objectives within school IEP meetings, individual plans with adult services and/or person-centered planning meetings.

6. Provides a process to create and work a Transition Action Plan.

7. Provides supporting information that can be used when pursuing individual planning and creating a person’s life using consumer directed funding.  

8. Draws upon collaboration; the family, school and agency personnel during transition and life planning.

9. Examines and offers supports that enhances the individual’s emotional development and stability.

10. Is a protocol based on quality-of-life indicators to evaluate and monitor student/young adult’s capability levels and personal growth.

How School Personnel and Therapists can use the CAIS with students who have ASD:

1) To provide therapists in speech, OT, physical therapy, ABA, and personnel in school and adult services a new transition assessment. The CAIS provides information about the individual’s capability levels, and the intensity of need for supports across seven areas of living.

2) To aid in transition planning in developing short and long term goals, i.e. the student’s current situation and moving upward into the next phase in life, adulthood.

4) To provide paraprofessionals, community coaches, and mentors who train, teach or assist individuals a quality of life structure: teaching self help skills with practical broad creative supports can help students/young adults become more capable and experience greater community membership (i.e. leisure, employment, daily living).

5) To offer significant information about the individual’s needs to team members who participate in the process of person-centered- planning with the individual and family.

6) To assist an agency providing community living services to the individual. The CAIS is a consistent protocol to pinpoint areas of need and supports that enable students in seven domains of living.

7) The CAIS is a user-friendly self-management tool that can assist individuals to be their own best advocate. To offer young adults who are considered ‘high functioning’-- a tool that helps this group understand the unique supports needed that can increase their capability. The CAIS can be a self evaluation tool the young adult can use to recognize progress and supports that increase h/her capability levels.

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