This paper summarizes the results of a symposium on assessment procedures at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, a residential/day school for children with sensory impairments. Experience with top down assessment utilizing a wholistic approach is emphasized. First a brief description of assessment in the parent infant program is given. Then a case study of a deaf blind boy, 15 years 11 months of age, illustrates assessment principles and procedures used to determine his intelligence (moderate to mild mental retardation) and instructional recommendations. The third section discusses the interdisciplinary team assessment approach used at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. (DB)