ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

What is communicationDifferent Aspects of communication why there is a need to communicateDifferent Tools for language/communication/grammer assessment

Communication is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, written, or behavior.

WHY THERE IS A NEED TO COMMUNICATE

To express needs and wants To develop social closeness To exchange information To fulfill social etiquette routine

ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATION

PARALINGUISTIC :

changes form and meaning of sentence including intonation,stress,rate of delivery and pause or hesitation

NON LINGUISTICS

Includes gestures body posture facial expressions eye contact head and body movement physical distance

META LINGUISTICS

these are skills that enables us to talk about language,analyz it, think about it, separate it from its context, and judge it

TEACCH portage guide ABLLS Blacksheep CELF TROG PECS

A typical TEACCH classroom has separate, defined areas for tasks such as individual work, group activities and play. Teachers use pictures, or “visual supports,” to help communicate schedules to help students transition between activities.

The TEACCH method is primarily used to assist the autistic individual in better understanding his/her environment. The techniques described above are not faded out over time; but rather, they are to be consistently used across a variety of environments.

TEACCH employs an approach called Structured Teaching, which emphasizes a highly structured and predictable classroom environment and the use of visual learning

Today TEACCH provides a wide range of services to a broad spectrum of toddlers, children, adolescents, adults and their families including diagnosis and assessment, individualized treatment programmes, special education, social skills training, vocational training, school consultations, parent training and counseling and the facilitation of parent group activities. 

TEACCH also maintains an active research programme and provides multidisciplinary training for professionals dealing with children/adolescents/ adults with autism and their families.

The primary aim of the TEACCH programme is to help to prepare people with autism to live or work more effectively at home, at school and in the community. Special emphasis is placed on helping people with autism and their families live together more effectively by reducing or removing 'autistic behaviours'.

The TEACCH method provides the individual with structure and organization. This method relies on five basic principles; a brief description of each is provided below.

Physical structurePhysical structure refers to the actual layout or surroundings of a person's environment, such as a classroom, home, or group home. The physical boundaries are clearly defined and usually include activities like: work, play, snack, music, and transitioning.

SchedulingA schedule or planner is set up which indicates what the person is supposed to do and when it is supposed to happen. The person's entire day, week, and possibly month, are clearly shown to the person through words, photographs, drawings, or whatever medium is easiest for the person to comprehend.

Work systemThe work system tells the person what is expected of him/her during an activity, how much is supposed to be accomplished, and what happens after the activity is completed. The goal is to teach the person to work independently. The work system is also organized in such a way that the person has little or no difficulty figuring out what to do. For example, the activity or task should be performed from top to bottom and from left to right.RoutineAccording to the TEACCH method, the most functional skill for autistic individuals is a routine which involves checking one's schedule and following the established work system. This routine can then be used throughout the person's lifetime and in multiple situations.

Visual structureVisual structure refers to visually-based cues regarding organization, clarification, and instructions to assist the person in understanding what is expected of him/her. For example, a visual structure may involve using colored containers to assist the person in sorting colored materials into various groups or displaying an example of a stamped envelope when the person is asked to place stamps on envelop

PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

While the system is commonly used as a communication aid for children with(ASD), it has been used with a wide variety of learners, from preschoolers to adults, who have various communicative, cognitive, and physical impairments

It enables non verbal children to request/choose

PECS is designed to teach functional communication skills with an initial focus on spontaneous communication.

It has been and continues to be implemented in a variety of settings and contexts (home, school, community) so users have the skills to communicate their wants and needs.

PECS does not require complex or expensive materials since it uses picture symbols as the modality

In the most advanced phases, individuals are taught to respond to questions and to comment. Additionally, descriptive language concepts such as size, shape, color, number, etc. are also taught so the student can make their message more specific. For example, I want big yellow ball.

PORTAGE GUIDE

The Portage Guide to Early education, a program in which teachers instruct mothers in their homes in an effort to help promote the development of young children with developmental delays, is used widely (e.g. in more than 60 countries

DEVELOPMENTAL AREAS

Communication/language/literacy Social/emotional development Exploration/approaches to learning Purposeful motor activity Sensory organization

MAIN BELIEVES OF THE PORTAGE PROGRAMME

PARENTS KNOW THEIR OWN CHILDREN BEST AND ARE THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT TEACHERS OF THEIR CHILDREN.

THE HOME OR OTHER RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENTS ARE NATURAL AND SIGNIFICANT LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS.

INTERVENTION OBJECTS AND STRATEGIES MUST BE INDIVIDUALIZED FOR EACH CHILD AND FAMILY BASED ON THEIR CONCERNS.

CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS ARE CHILDREN FIRST, WITH THE SAME NEEDS AND RIGHTS AS ALL CHILDREN.

ALL CHILDREN SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL

POTENTIAL

THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE INTERVENTION IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE.

Developed by Dr. Partington, the ABLLS-R system is an assessment tool, curriculum guide, and skills-tracking system used to help guide the instruction of language and critical learner skills for children with autism or other developmental disabilities

This practical and parent-friendly tool can be used to facilitate the identification of skills needed by your child to effectively communicate and learn from everyday experiences. 

The ABLLS-R provides a comprehensive review of 544 skills from 25 skill areas including language, social interaction, self-help, academic and motor skills that most typically developing children acquire prior to entering kindergarten

THE ABLLS®-R PROTOCOL used to score the child’s performance on the task items and provides 15

appendices that allow for the tracking of a variety of specific skills that are included in the assessment.  The Protocol includes a set of grids that comprise a skills tracking system that makes it possible to observe and document a child’s progress in the acquisition of critical skills.  

THE ABLLS®-R GUIDE

provides information about the features of the ABLLS®-R, how to correctly score items, and how to develop Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and objectives that clearly define and target the learning needs of a student.

This assessment is time consuming .  However, it covers a variety of subjects and really gives you a comprehensive overview of the child.  Some of the areas it covers are

Receptive Language , Expressive Language, Imitation, Intraverbals, Visual Performance, Reading, Writing, Math, as well as functional skills such as Bathroom and Feeding.

CLINICAL EVALUATION OF LANGUAGE FUNDAMENTALS

features a new approach to assessment that enables you to accurately and reliably assess a child's language difficulties. Combine core subtests with supplementary subtests to get a comprehensive assessment of a child's language skills as you create a pathway to intervention.

new tests for evaluating word meanings and vocabulary (semantics),

word and sentence structure (morphology and syntax),

the rules of oral language used in responding to and conveying messages (pragmatics), and the recall and retrieval of spoken language

(memory). It also includes the Observational Rating Scales

(ORS) for authentic evaluation of communication in academic settings

helps you to determine the nature of the language disorder: the child's language strengths and weaknesses, Receptive Language and Expressive Language Scores.

TEST FOR RECEPTION OF GRAMMAR (TROG-2)

The TROG is suitable for use by Speech and Language Therapists, Psychologists and Teachers of the Deaf. It is also useful for Neuropsychologists assessing adults with acquired language disorders

The TROG is an individually administered, multiple choice test designed to assess understanding of grammatical contrasts in English. The TROG has proved of valued in the assessment of children suffering from language disorders. It can also be used to investigate language comprehension in adults with acquired aphasia.

ADMINISTRATION: Open the book at the starting page and give the subject a few seconds to scan the picture. Then say "I want you to point to the picture that goes with what I say. Listen carefully." Say the test word or sentence, and record the subject's responses. Then say "Good! Now I am going to show you some more pictures. Each time I say something, you point to the picture that goes with what I say". Continue turning each page, saying the test sentence when the subject has had time to scan the pictures.

Vocabulary cards - The TROG includes a set of vocabulary cards for use prior to the main test. The first 3 blocks of TROG test understanding of a few nouns, verbs and adjectives used later on in the test. The vocabulary cards are used to check understanding of the remainder of the vocabulary used in TROG. These cards allow one to discover whether errors on TROG might reflect vocabulary failure, rather than grammatical problem