Claudia Allen left the Allen Cognitive Group/ACLS and LACLS Committee in 2014. At the time of her passing in 2019, she was developing a for-profit, subscriber-only app based on a significant paradigm shift in theory, assessment, and intervention. It includes an assessment called the ACLS-6 which consists of a plastic form shaped like the LACLS stitching tool, as well as additional activities. These items are only available to subscribers through the website ACDMweb.
The Allen Cognitive Group/ACLS and LACLS Committee neither endorses nor supports this endeavor at this time. A more complete development of the new theoretical paradigm and the new ACLS-6 assessment with evidence to support them is needed. We continue to honor Claudia Allen’s legacy and the work of other dedicated practitioners who have contributed to the development of the cognitive disabilities model for the benefit of persons with differing cognitive abilities, their families and caregivers, through the mission of our not-for-profit organization, the Allen Cognitive Group/ACLS and LACLS Committee.
References
Allen, C. K. (1985). Occupational therapy for psychiatric diseases: Measurement and management of cognitive disabilities. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.
Allen, C. K., & Blue, T. (1998). Cognitive disabilities model: How to make clinical judgments. Bethesda, MD: American
Occupational Therapy Association.
Allen, C. K., Blue, T., & Earhart, C. A. (1995). Understanding Cognitive Performance Modes. Ormond Beach, FL: Allen Conferences, Inc.
Allen, C. K., Earhart, C. A., & Blue, T. (1992). Occupational therapy treatment goals for the physically and cognitively
disabled. Bethesda, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association.
Allen, C. K., Austin, S. L., David, S. K., Earhart, C. A., McCraith, D. B., & Riska-Williams, L. (2007). Manual for the
Allen Cognitive Level Screen-5 (ACLS-5) and Large Allen Cognitive Level Screen-5 (ACLS-5). Camarillo, CA:
ACLS and LACLS Committee.
Earhart, C. A., & McCraith, D. B (2020). Cognitive disabilities model: Allen Cognitive Level Screen–5 and Allen
Diagnostic Module (2nd Edition) assessments. In B. Hemphill and C. Urish (Eds.), Assessments in
occupational therapy mental health: An integrative approach (4th ed., pp. 179-210). Thorofare, NJ: Slack,
Incorporated.
McCraith, D. B, Austin, S. L., & Earhart, C. A. (2011). The cognitive disabilities model in 2011. In N. Katz (Ed.),
Cognition, occupation, and participation across the life span (3rd ed., pp. 383-406). Bethesda, MD: American
Occupational Therapy Association.
McCraith, D. B, & Earhart, C. A. (2018). Cognitive disabilities model: Creating fit between functional cognitive
abilities and cognitive activity demands. In N. Katz and J. Toglia (Eds.), Cognition, occupation, and
participation across the life span (4th ed., pp. 469-497). Bethesda, MD: American Occupational Therapy Association.