The Disability Assessment Schedule: a brief screening device for use with the mentally retarded

Synopsis Various types of reliability measures were conducted on the Disability Assessment Schedule, a structured interview devised to elicit from parents or care staff details of impairments, skills and behaviour problems in mentally retarded children and adults. The results indicated high overall agreement when the schedule was repeated over time, and also when used by several trained interviewers to rate the same interview. Problems arising from the use of such interview schedules are discussed, and suggestions are made for improving the design and method of administration.