TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment with children who need augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
T2 - Clinical decisions of AAC specialists
AU - Lund, Shelley K.
AU - Quach, Wendy
AU - Weissling, Kristy
AU - McKelvey, Miechelle
AU - Dietz, Aimee
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2017/1
Y1 - 2017/1
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who are augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) specialists approach the assessment process for 2 case studies, 1 child with cerebral palsy and 1 with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions: (a) How do clinicians with expertise approach the AAC assessment process for children with developmental disabilities? (b) Can any initial hypothesis be drawn about how SLPs approach the assessment of children with motor versus social interactive deficits? Method: This study used a phenomenological qualitative design. The researchers conducted 2 in-depth, semistructured interviews with 8 SLPs who specialized in AAC and selfidentified as primarily working with children. Results: Four major themes emerged from the data: area of assessment, method of assessment, evaluation preparation, and parent education. Each major theme contained multiple subthemes and categories within those subthemes. Conclusions: Participants discussed similar areas of assessment for both cases, indicating that some aspects of AAC assessment are universal. However, the specific aspects of what they were assessing and how they went about assessing them differed between the 2 cases. The results of the current study provide an outline of an assessment protocol for children with complex communication needs.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who are augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) specialists approach the assessment process for 2 case studies, 1 child with cerebral palsy and 1 with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions: (a) How do clinicians with expertise approach the AAC assessment process for children with developmental disabilities? (b) Can any initial hypothesis be drawn about how SLPs approach the assessment of children with motor versus social interactive deficits? Method: This study used a phenomenological qualitative design. The researchers conducted 2 in-depth, semistructured interviews with 8 SLPs who specialized in AAC and selfidentified as primarily working with children. Results: Four major themes emerged from the data: area of assessment, method of assessment, evaluation preparation, and parent education. Each major theme contained multiple subthemes and categories within those subthemes. Conclusions: Participants discussed similar areas of assessment for both cases, indicating that some aspects of AAC assessment are universal. However, the specific aspects of what they were assessing and how they went about assessing them differed between the 2 cases. The results of the current study provide an outline of an assessment protocol for children with complex communication needs.
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U2 - 10.1044/2016_LSHSS-15-0086
DO - 10.1044/2016_LSHSS-15-0086
M3 - Article
C2 - 28114681
AN - SCOPUS:85011031780
SN - 0161-1461
VL - 48
SP - 56
EP - 68
JO - Language, speech, and hearing services in schools
JF - Language, speech, and hearing services in schools
IS - 1
ER -