Tag Archive: assessment
May 5, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
We are fortunate to have a return visit from Tina Moreno, who brings her experiences both as an SLP and also as a mom of a teenager who has used AAC for most of his life. In this post, Tina shares some of the strategies that she has used to support AAC students in their classrooms. If you are a school-based SLP, don’t miss Tina’s classroom observation form for gathering data on how AAC is being used in various activities and lessons. GIVE THEM FIVE As an SLP in the school setting, helping teachers support students in the classroom can be a big challenge. While we can see students making progress in our therapy sessions, it can be difficult to get the same results in the classroom. An important role of the SLP is to collaborate with teachers to help students generalize these skills in conversation with their peers and other... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, classroom, forms, implementation ideas, intervention, resources, Tina Moreno
April 22, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
If you work in educational settings, there’s a good possibility and you and and your colleagues have had many conversations around the topic of progress monitoring. Progress monitoring in an approach to assessing student performance and evaluating the effectiveness of instruction. How does that apply to students who use AAC and other AT? Today, we hear from Elizabeth Panek on that very topic. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and PaTTAn for making this available.
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: assessment, education, PaTTAN, progress monitoring, schools
February 5, 2015
by Carole Zangari -
A truth: People with significant communication difficulties need and deserve high-quality AAC assessments by experienced professionals. Some other truths: We want to do a good job. It feels a lot better to go home at the end of the day when we feel like we’ve really, REALLY helped your loved one. For us, there isn’t much that tops that feeling. We may have had little or no training in this. Most SLPs in practice today didn’t have any coursework in this area when they were in their graduate programs. Even if they did, they had little to no mentorship in applying the information to real clients in a real world setting. And even those who did get some clinical experience in AAC might not have worked with people similiar to your family member. Any learning we do about this is usually on our own time and at our own expense. People... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment
December 26, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we head to Oklahoma for a chart that comes in handy when comparing SGDs during the feature match process. I especially love the distinction between features on the ‘Must Have’ list and those on the ‘Wish List.’ Thanks to the Oklahoma AT Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for this helpful resource!
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, device selection, feature match, Oklahoma AT Center, SGD
November 4, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
In one of my AAC classes, we’ve been talking about working collaboratively with vendors of SGDs and other AT in a way that is ethically responsible. Clearly, we look first to our ASHA SLP Code of Conduct, best practices, agency policies and procedures, and regulations (such as HIPAA and FERPA in the US). Secondly, we use a feature match process to guide the evaluation so that there is appropriate diversity in the communications being considered. Beyond that, here are some of the things we came up with. Open a dialogue and the roles and expectations of each party. If we are inviting a vendor in to provide some support, then it’s best to precede that with a frank conversation so that everyone is clear on how to proceed. Be clear about acceptable and unacceptable behaviors prior to the start of the collaborative activity. Having some guidelines written out in advance... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, ethics, SGD, vendor
October 30, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
One of the challenging things about teaching graduate student SLPs to do AAC assessments is that there is no single, comprehensive protocol to cover the needs of all types of clients. We’ve started a collection of forms and thought some of you might find them helpful. If you know of others, please get in touch so we can add to the list. That way we’ll have them all in one place. Intake and General AAC Assessment AAC Assessment Protocol: Gail Van Tatenhove AAC Checklist and Rubric: Tufte AAC Intervention Rubric: Angela Standridge, Texas Region 4 Education Service Center Adult Pre-Assessment (Acquired Disabilities): Gail Van Tatenhove Adult Pre-Assessment (Congenital Disabilities): Gail Van Tatenhove Bloom and Lahey-Early Communicative Forms and Functions: Exceptional Children Division, NC Department of Public Instruction Dynamic Assistive Technology Evaluation (DATE) Collaborative Worksheet: Texas AT Network Needs Assessment: Gail Van Tatenhove Pediatric Pre-Assessment: Gail Van Tatenhove Picture Assessment: Gail... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: AAC assessment, assessment, assessment form
October 19, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
One of the most challenging parts of providing AAC services is to do a good assessment. Today, we turn to Dr. Rae Sonnenmier of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire for thoughts on how to approach this important task. Link to the Communication Success Screening Tool Direct link to video: http://vimeo.com/88019903
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: assessment, device selection, Rae Sonnenmeir
October 5, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Helping teams to get to know the communication abilities of our AAC clients is something many of us struggle with. In this video from The Perkins School, we learn about their process for developing communication portfolios. http://www.perkins.org/resources/webcasts/communications-portfolio.html
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, beginning communicator, Perkins, portfolio, teaming, teams
August 27, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
It’s the beginning of a new semester for us, and that got us thinking about assessment for our new and returning clients with AAC needs. Here are some of the tools we’ll be thinking about over the next few weeks. AAC Profile: A Continuum of Learning (Kovach, 2009) Checklist of Communication Competencies, Revised (Bloomberg, West, Johnson, & Iacono, 2009) Functional Communication Profile, Revised (Kleiman, 2003) Social Networks: A Communication Inventory for Individuals with Complex Communication Needs and Their Partners (Blackstone & Hunt Berg, 2012) The Test of Aided-Communication Symbol Performance (TASP; Bruno, 2010) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Blackstone, S., & Hunt Berg, M. (2012). Social Networks: A Communication Inventory for Individuals with Complex Communication Needs and Their Communication Partners. Verona, WI: Attainment. Bloomberg, K., West, D., Johnson, H., & Iacono, T. (2009). Triple C Manual and Checklists, Revised. SCOPE: Victoria. Bruno, J. (2010). Test of Aided-Communication Symbol Performance. Pittsburgh, PA: Dynavox Mayer Johnson. Kleiman,... [Read More...]
Filed under: PrAACtical Thinking
Tagged With: assessment, testing, tests
August 24, 2014
by Carole Zangari -
Today, we are excited to share this video tutorial by Dr. Rae Sonnenmier of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire on feature matching and considerations for selecting the right AAC device. Direct link to video: https://vimeo.com/91853443
Filed under: Video of the Week
Tagged With: assessment, Feature Matching, Rae Sonnenmeir, UNH