Augmentative Communication Assessmentby Stacy DymondDeveloping a functional communication system is a priority IEP objective for many students with severe disabilities. It is not an easy task and often requires numerous hours and many "trial and error" attempts before an appropriate system can be identified. In order to insure a good match between a learner's skills and the "form" that a communication system should take, time must be devoted to assessing the student, the listener, and the environments where communication will occur (Siegel-Causey & Guess, 1989). Some people have the misconception that students who require an augmentative communication assessment should be sent or referred to someone who has expertise in this area. While this may eventually be necessary, it should not be the first step that a student's IEP team implements. First, and foremost, assessment should begin with the IEP team. Much of the information that is needed as part of the assessment can best be gained through the team members' combined knowledge about and direct experience with the student. A "one-shot" evaluation by someone who has never met or worked with the student will be ineffective unless the team is able to provide the evaluator with additional assessment results based upon their every day experiences with the student. How then should team proceed with conducting an augmentative communication assessment? The key is in knowing what questions to ask. Although communication may take two forms, non-symbolic (gestures, facial expressions, body movements, etc.) and symbolic (objects, pictures, line drawings, or words that represent the actual item, person, or activity), augmentative communication is designed to assist individuals to communicate using symbolic forms. An augmentative communication assessment is therefore designed to provide information about an individual's level of symbolic representation and needs for communicating with these symbols. A number of informal assessments exist for helping teams to collect information which can be used to make decisions about symbolic augmentative communication systems. Gamel-McCormick and Dymond (1994) have synthesized some of these instruments into an easy to use protocol that can help point teams toward the characteristics of a system that will work for the student being assessed. Although not comprehensive, the following provides a brief summary of some of the areas on the protocol that your team may want to consider as you begin the augmentative communication assessment process. For more.. AAC Assessment Form |
