Supports Intensity Scale
What It Measures
The Supports Intensity Scale asks a question most disability assessments do not: not what a person cannot do, but what support they would need to do it. That reframing is the point — the output is a support plan rather than a deficit profile.
An interviewer works through life activities with the person and people who know them well, covering home living, community living, lifelong learning, employment, health and safety, and social activities, plus a section on protection and advocacy. Each activity is rated three ways: the type of support needed, how often it is needed, and how much time per day it takes. A separate section covers exceptional medical and behavioural support needs.
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: Proprietary, copyrighted, and trademarked by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD). AAIDD offers interviewer training workshops. The SIS is administered through a structured interview and reliability depends on trained interviewers.
Learn More: Two versions exist. The SIS-A (Adult Version), published 2015 and now in a second edition, covers ages 16 and up. The SIS-C (Children's Version) covers ages 5 to 16 and uses school-specific subscales — school participation and school learning activities in place of the adult employment and lifelong learning domains.