10/2 Topics in ASD: Communication Assessment

Question 1

What is the communication assessment purpose?

Answer 1

• Critical part of overall assessment –> communication deficits are main area of challenge.
• 1) Evaluate current social skill functioning and/or social competence
• 2) Identify skills that will be targeted for intervention
• 3) Identify strengths

Question 2

What are the two procedures that are used for communication assessment?

Answer 2

• Direct & Indirect methods

Question 3

What is a Direct Assessment Type?

Answer 3

An analysis of student’s behaviors on whether target skill sets have been mastered and/or achieved

Question 4

What is an Indirect Assessment Type?

Answer 4

An analysis of reported perceptions about the student’s mastery of specific skill sets.

Perceptions can consist of teacher/parent reports. self-reports by the student and can be made by different faculty & staff

Question 5

What are some things we want to look at in regards to language during the communication assessment?

Answer 5

• Formal aspects of language (Receptive & Expressive)
• Atypical features of language (Pronoun reversals, scripted language, echolalia; prosody, inflection, volume, register)
• Nonverbal forms of communication (Eye contact, gestures)
• Language use for social purposes

Question 6

Assessment at the prelinguistic stage should focus on what areas? ( These areas are also how we get our differential diagnosis)

Answer 6

• Depressed rate of preverbal communicative acts
• Delayed development of pointing gestures
• Use of nonconventional means of communicating
• Reduced responsiveness to speech and to hearing their name called.
• Restricted range of communicative behaviors
• Atypical preverbal vocalizations
• Deficits in play
• Limited ability to imitate

Question 7

What setting should we observe the child in?

Answer 7

In more naturalistic interactions

Question 8

What instruments/measures are used during the assessment in prelinguistic stage?

Answer 8

• Communication and symbolic behavior scale (CSBS)
• Early scale of communication and socialization
• Communication intention inventory
• Prelinguistic communication assessment

Question 9

All the measures used during the prelinguistic stage of assessment tend to use what?

Answer 9

• “Communicative temptations” to elicit target behaviors and compare rate of communicative acts to norms

Question 10

What are the components of the CSBS (2002)?

Answer 10

• Norm-referenced
• Infant-toddler checklist
• Caregiver questionnaire
• Behavior sample (videotaped)
• Caregiver perception rating
• Measures change over time

Question 11

There has to be three components that need to be present for a communicative act to occur, what are they?

Answer 11

• Gesture, vocalization or verbal production
• It has to be directed towards another person (gaze, touch, etc.)
• Interpretable as a message (request, protest, etc.) –> Has to have a function

Question 12

The functions of communication below 18 months of age the main functions are…

Answer 12

• Regulatory:
• Comments: Calling attentions to objects or activities in the purpose of joint attention.
• Social interaction

Question 13

The discourse functions expand for 18 to 24 months of age are…

Answer 13

• Requests for information

- Acknowledgements and answers

Question 14

What are some means of communication? (how they communicate)

Answer 14

• Eye gaze
• Babbling
• Gestures (pointing between 6-10mos)
• Use of nonconventional gestures
• Atypical preverbal vocalizations
• Evaluated concurrently with function & frequency

Question 15

What is their responsiveness to communication?

Answer 15

• Respond to name by 12 months
• 12 months = 50 word receptive vocabulary
• ASD = Reduced responsiveness to speech
• Observation of caregiver-child play

Question 16

What should you do if child/adult does not have verbal speech?

Answer 16

Analyze strengths and needs

Question 17

What are some techniques used in older children for communicative assessment?

Answer 17

• Is child/adult doesn’t have verbal speech then analyze strengths and needs
• Introduce AAC
• Interact with other, have control over environment
• Unaided vs. Aided
• Complete a needs assessment to determine what the appropriate tool to use

Question 18

What are some criterion-referenced measures to us in nonverbal older children?

Answer 18

• Augmentative communication assessment profile
• Developmental assessment for individuals with severe disabilities
• Checklists to determine means and functions of communication

Question 19

During a spoken language assessment what are some standardized instruments?

Answer 19

• CELF-P-2 (syntax, semantics, morphology, literacy, concepts, pragmatic profiles)
• PPVT (receptive and expressive vocabulary
• MacArthur-Bates CDI (Play, gestures, syntax, vocabulary)
• PLS-5 (receptive.expressive syntax, semantics, morphology)
• TOLD-P (Vocabulary, syntax, morphology, phonology)

Question 20

What do we obtain from a spontaneous speech sample?

Answer 20

• Primary means of establishing a communication profile

- Play, caregiver routine, shared book reading

Question 21

What is a good elicitation procedure to use to obtain a spontaneous speech?

Answer 21

Temptations (play with toys and keep it to yourself)

Question 22

What type of communication behaviors do we look at in ASD?

Answer 22

• Responsiveness to communication
  
  • Analyze: name response, response to adult’s speech
• Echolalia
  - Proportion of echoed to spontaneous utterances, immediate or delayed
• Pronoun use
  - Analyze: # of inappropriate uses vs total
• Vocabulary and syntax
  - Type-Token Ratio, MLU

Question 23

What are some things to look for during Pragmatic Assessment?

Answer 23

• Communicative functions = purpose
  
  • Assess range (directing, even reporting, reasoning, predicting, empathizing, imagining, negotiating)
• Discourse management = organization
  - Assess turns, topic preservation, maintenance and switching, transition phrases
• Register variation = flexible use of language forms
  - Assess use of polite forms, ability to change forms
• Presupposition = knowledge assumption
  - Give appropriate information, use pronouns, use ellipsis, create central flow of conversation
• Conversational manner = contributions
  - Fluid speech that is not overly complex or blatantly sparse &/or disorganized
• Assessment form example

Question 24

What are some standardized measures for assessment with high functioning ASD?

Answer 24

• TOPL-2 (Test of pragmatic language)
• CASL (Comprehensive assessment of spoken language)
• TLC (Test of language competence)
• PRS (Pragmatic rating scale)

Question 25

How do we assess pragmatics and prosody in children with high functioning ASD?

Answer 25

• Assess through tropics of discussion

Question 26

Things to assess while looking at pragmatics and prosody in children with high functioning ASD is…

Answer 26

• TOM
• Empathy, emotion expression
• Obsessive interests
• Blunt comments
• Overly friendly
• Questioning
• Understanding of irony, humor

Question 27

What are some things to look at in regards to narrative skills?

Answer 27

• Social difficulties hinder ability to create cohesive stories
• Inferences, internal responses of character
• Higher level language abilities
• TNL (Test of Narrative Language)

Question 28

What are things to note during intervention planning?

Answer 28

• Identify frequency, range, and means of communicative acts expressed
• Degree of responsiveness to communication
• Describe language acquisition (delayed, absent, SLI, strength)
• Compare language use with pragmatic abilities
• Identify language patterns associated with ASD
• Accessible form of AAC (Non-verbal)
• Set goals fro the child’s communication intervention program
• Strengths and needs assessment
• Dynamic assessment