Assisting Hand Assessment – Online UK/Europe/Australia October 2026-February 2027 (English)

Description

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) 18-18 is a Rasch-based instrument that measures and describes the effectiveness with which a child/adolescent who has unilateral disability makes use of their affected hand (assisting hand) during bimanual activities. The AHA 18-18 is a standardised criterion-referenced test that is valid, reliable and sensitive to change. The test is intended for children with unilateral cerebral palsy and brachial plexus injuries aged between 18 months and 18 years

COURSE OUTLINE AND DATES

This course covers reliable administration and scoring of the AHA 18-18 assessment, Version 5.0 and is organised in several steps as follows.

Step 1 – Access pre-course materials and self-directed learning

Thursday 8th October to Wednesday 21st October 2026

Modality: Self-directed learning
Time requirements: 8 to 10 hours
Time for completion: 2 weeks
Description: Self-guided learning modules accessed via the CPTeaching Learning Management System (LMS). These modules include information about the test construct, testing procedure, and the AHA items. Quizzes will be used to test your knowledge. You will also be given the opportunity to practice scoring. You must complete the step within the specific time frame (2 weeks) to proceed to the next steps. There are no exceptions.

Step 2 – Online forum 1

Thursday 22nd October 2026: 8:00am to 12:00pm (London), 9:00am to 1:00pm (Berlin), 6:00pm to 10:00pm (Melbourne)

To check your local time zone, please refer to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Modality: Live online forum
Time requirements: 4 hours
Time for completion: Not applicable
Description: The first online forum allows participants to practice scoring with the AHA 18-18 teachers. Participants will be given the opportunity to score three (3) AHA 18-18 play sessions, discuss their scoring with the AHA 18-18 teacher(s) and clarify any questions about specific items.

Step 3 – Self-directed scoring

Thursday 22nd October to Wednesday 4th November 2026

Modality: Self-directed learning
Time requirements: 6 hours
Time for completion: 2 weeks
Description: Following the first online forum, participants will be required to score three (3) AHA 18-18 play session/boardgames. This self-guided-guided step will be accessed via the CPTeaching Learning Management System (LMS). You must complete step within the specific time frame (2 weeks) to attend the next steps. There are no exceptions.

Step 4 – Online forum 2

Thursday 5th November 2026: 8:00am to 12:00pm (London), 9:00am to 1:00pm (Berlin), 7:00pm to 11:00pm (Melbourne)

To check your local time zone, please refer to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Modality: Live online forum
Time requirements: 4 hours
Time for completion: Not applicable
Description: The second online forum allows participants seek clarification about specific AHA 18-18 items, clarify specific scores for the children/adolescents scored in the self-directed learning step and discuss any other questions with the teacher(s). Participants will be given the opportunity to score one (1) additional AHA 18-18 play session/boardgame.

If participants do not attend and complete the requirements for Steps 1 to 4, they will not be permitted to progress to the AHA 18-18 certification procedure. Participants will need to register and attend another course to consolidate their understanding of the AHA items and reliable scoring. There are no exceptions.

Step 5 – Certification procedure

Step 5.1 – Scoring calibration

Thursday 5th November to Thursday 3rd December 2026

Modality: Self-directed learning
Time requirements: 6 hours
Time for completion: 4 weeks
Description: All participants are required to individually score four (4) to six (6) AHA 18-18 play sessions/boardgames. This step must be completed within 4 weeks of attending the workshop.

To pass this step:

• Participants need to pass four (4) out of six (6) of the AHA play sessions.
  • Two (2) attempts are provided to pass each play session.
• After unsuccessful attempts, participants receive feedback indicating whether scores are “too nice” (scores too high) or “too harsh” (scores are too low).
• Participants must achieve a sum score of ≤ 5 difference for each play session and ≤ 5 items wrong for incorrect scores.

If participants do not achieve a score within these limits for four (4) of the AHA play sessions and within the required time frame (4 weeks), they will not meet the requirements for AHA 18-18 certification. Participants will need to register and attend another course to consolidate their understanding of the AHA items and reliable scoring.

Step 5.2 – AHA 18-18 administration reliability

Thursday 5th November 2026 to Thursday 11th February 2027

Modality: Self-directed learning
Time requirements: 4 hours
Time for completion: 3 months after completion of Step 4 – Online forum 2.
Description: Participants are required to administer AHA 18-18 sessions with two (2) children/adolescents from their practice and complete a self-reflection checklist for these sessions. Each course participant will receive individual, detailed feedback.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Demonstrate the setup, conduct and video record an AHA 18-18 session.
2. Produce reliable scores according to the criteria in the manual (AHA Version 5.0)
3. Verbalise the concept and construct of the test and its psychometric properties.
4. Interpret and communicate the outcome of the test.

INSTRUCTORS

Adjunct Associate Professor Brian Hoare, OT, Cerebral Palsy Group

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Physical and Occupational Therapists

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

To be able to perform the self-produced AHA assessment, you must have access to an AHA 18-18 test kit and at least 2 children with unilateral upper limb impairment. The AHA test kit for children between 18 months and 18 years with specific toys, and/or the board game for teenagers can be ordered by course participants only from www.cpteaching.com

Please do not register for this course if you:

1. Do not have access to at least 2 children with unilateral upper limb impairment to complete the AHA 18-18 administration reliability procedure.
2. Do not have access to an AHA 18-18 test kit.
3. Have planned leave or other factors that will impact your ability to complete all steps outlined above within the time frames specified.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

Nil

GENERAL COURSE ENQUIRIES

For more information about course content or if you have any questions about booking a place on this course, please contact admin@cpteaching.com

COURSE REGISTRATION

Please note, CPTeaching has a strict policy of not holding places for courses. All registrations must be processed via the CPTeaching website.

WANT TO PAY BY CREDIT CARD?

It is possible to process payment via credit card. Please select “PayPal” as the method for payment. You do not need a PayPal account and can use a credit card to process payment using this method.

NEED AN INVOICE?

To obtain an invoice, please register via the website and select bank transfer as the method for payment. You will then receive an automated reply email with an invoice that contains the information you entered during the registration process. Please ensure you enter your details for the participant, and you can also add the details for Accounts Payable as the payer. If you do not receive the email in your inbox shortly after registration, the email may likely have been filtered to your spam or junk mail folder.

NEED TO PROCESS PAYMENT VIA PURCHASE ORDER?

Please do not send us a Purchase Order without first registering for a course via our website. In the event that this happens, we will not accept the Purchase Order. To obtain an invoice for payment via a Purchase Order, please select Purchase Order as method of payment during the registration process. You, or a nominated person in your organisation, will then receive an invoice via email. Please note, there is a 10% surcharge applied for all payments processed by Purchase Order. This surcharge is applied due to the significant administration requirements to receive payment and to cover bank transfer fees which your organisation will pass on to CPTeaching. Please note that we will not accept payment via Purchase Order within 1 month from the course commencement date due to the delays in receiving payment.

WANT TO MAKE A LARGE GROUP BOOKING?

If you would like to make a large group booking for your organisation, please first email us at admin@cpteaching.com to seek further information.

REGISTRATION CLOSING DATE

11th September 2026