The AFLS: Assessing Functional Living Skills That Last

The Assessment of Functional Living Skills is a tool BCBAs use to check daily-life skills. People call it the AFLS for short. It looks at what a learner can do at home and in the community.

This assessment matters because life skills lead to real independence. BCBAs, RBTs, teachers, and parents all care about these outcomes. But the AFLS only helps if the skills it targets actually stick. Kelly Brzak shares honest lessons about making that happen.

What the AFLS measures#

The AFLS covers a wide range of everyday skills. It is not about school tests or academic drills. It focuses on the skills a person needs to live well.

What is the EFLs commonly used for? To evaluate and develop home skills, basic living skills, community participation, community independence, vocational skills. From the talk. Kelly Brzak

Each of these areas points to real independence. Home skills include chores and self-care. Community skills include shopping and getting around town. Vocational skills point toward future work.

These skills shape a learner's whole future. A young adult who can cook and shop has more freedom. One who can hold a job has more choices in life. That is why the AFLS aims so far beyond the classroom.

The AFLS is really a set of related assessment guides. Different protocols target different parts of life. One may focus on home skills, another on the community. Teams pick the parts that fit the learner's stage.

Brzak describes the same broad coverage in her talk on younger kids. The tool spans the home, the community, and the job world. That wide view is its main strength.

If you're not familiar with AFOLS, hopefully you are. It covers things like home skills, basic living skills, community participation, independence, vocational skills. From the talk. Kelly Brzak

The generalization problem#

Naming a skill on the AFLS is easy. Getting that skill to show up in real life is hard. Brzak is honest about where her own work fell short.

Generalization means a skill shows up outside the teaching setting. A child might do a chore in therapy but never at home. That gap is a common and painful problem.

I would have, for example, a caregiver agree to work on the child doing the dishes. And six to nine months later, I'm asking the child if they've done a dish, not a single one. From the talk. Kelly Brzak

This story stings because it is so common. Months of work produced no real change at home. The skill lived on a data sheet, not in the kitchen.

The child could likely do the dishes on request. That is a skill they had in some form. But having a skill and using it daily are different things. The gap was motivation and routine, not raw ability.

The missing piece, she reflects, was caregiver buy-in. Chores need to happen in the home to become habits. If the family is not on board, the skill has nowhere to grow.

Therapy time is only a few hours each week. The rest of the week happens without the clinician there. A skill that only lives in session cannot become part of life. The family carries the skill the other days.

When assessments become box-checking#

Any assessment can turn into a paperwork task. That is the trap Brzak warns against. Filling boxes is not the same as helping a learner.

A lot of the work I've done with families on EFLs just seemed to be for the sake of insurance hoop jumping. From the talk. Kelly Brzak

The phrase "insurance hoop jumping" is a hard truth. Sometimes goals get written to satisfy a payer, not the child. That path wastes everyone's time and effort.

The same trap shows up with other tools too. Brzak also mentions the VB-MAPP, another common skills assessment. She cautions against treating either one as a checklist.

Hopefully it's not checking off the boxes on the VB map or strictly checking off the AFOLS skills boxes. From the talk. Kelly Brzak

The point is to teach skills that matter to the family. The score is just a starting map. The real goal is a more independent life.

The AFLS itself is a strong and detailed tool. The problem is rarely the assessment on paper. The problem is how teams use the results. A good tool used as a checklist still fails the learner.

Brzak's honesty here is a gift to new clinicians. She is not blaming the AFLS for the poor outcomes. She is pointing at choices in how the goals were used. That reflection is how good practice gets better over time.

Making the AFLS meaningful#

So how do you keep the AFLS from becoming busywork? Brzak's own regrets point the way. It starts with the people around the learner.

First, secure caregiver motivation before you pick targets. A skill only sticks if the family will support it daily. Ask what the family actually wants and needs.

Second, do not choose targets by age alone. In her talk on six-to-eight year olds, Brzak makes this point. A skill should fit the child, not just their birthday. Checking boxes by age misses the real learner in front of you.

Third, plan for the real setting from day one. Teach the dishes task where the dishes are. Build the skill into home routines, not just therapy trials.

Fourth, pick fewer targets that truly matter. A short list of meaningful skills beats a long list of boxes. Depth of practice helps a skill become a habit. A crowded goal sheet can spread the work too thin.

Notice how Brzak uses two talks to make one case. In the older-child session, she shows how skills failed to generalize. In the younger-child session, she warns against age-based box-checking. Both point to the same fix. Pick skills that matter to the family and teach them where life happens.

FAQ#

What does the AFLS assess?

The AFLS assesses functional daily-life skills across several areas. These include home skills, basic living skills, and community participation. It also covers independence and early vocational skills.

How is the AFLS different from the VB-MAPP?

The VB-MAPP focuses on language and early learner milestones. The AFLS focuses on functional life and independence skills. Many teams use both to get a fuller picture.

Why do AFLS goals sometimes fail to generalize?

Skills often fail because they are only taught in therapy. Without caregiver buy-in, the skill never enters daily home life. Teaching in real settings with family support helps skills stick.

The AFLS shows up across development, including with younger learners in Child Development Deep Dive: Middle Childhood (6-8 year olds).