An integral part of the AEPS assessment, the AEPS-3 Family Report and FACS (Family Assessment of Child Skills) provides parents and caregivers with the opportunity to describe their child’s interest, participation, enjoyment, and/or difficulties in daily, family, and community activities. With the FACS, parents complete an assessment of their child’s skills that has a one-to-one correspondence with the goals assessed by the AEPS Test. The AEPS developers strongly encourage family participation in assessment to help identify the child’s strengths and needs. AEPS users are also strongly encouraged to include the family’s priorities as intervention targets.

AEPS and AEPSi are useful at a variety of levels to parents and administrators. Families like the AEPS because their priorities, observations, knowledge, and concerns are an integral part of the AEPS assessment gathered through completing the Family Report. And because the AEPS prioritizes meaningful, everyday skills for children, families’ relationships and communication with their children often improve with AEPS interventions. Families also love the AEPS Child Progress Record, which offers a “picture” of a child’s progress and how close the child is to reaching his or her goals.