Assessment (RJ) Flashcards
For an assessment to be meaningful and useful it must have foundational integrity. What are the 5 principles that ensure integrity?
- A good ax is thorough and incorporate as much relevant info as possible
- A good ax uses a variety of ax modalities eg case history, standardised testing, OMA and informal ax such as observation
- A good ax is valid. It should evaluate the intended skills.
- A good ax is reliable. Same result should it be repeated.
- A good ax is tailored to the individual client. So appropriate for age, skill, ethnocultural background.
What is the purpose of an assessment?
An assessment is an evaluation of a client ‘s communication or swallowing with 3 main aims.
- Is an impairment present
- Understand and document the impact of the impairment on the clients activities and participation (consistency, severity, stimulability, patterns)
- Gather other info that might influence recommendations about treatment options, goals and treatment processes (eg explanatory or exasperating factors.., structural, psychological, environmental and neurological)
- Determine the prognosis (with/without intervention)
So looking for info that determines:
- Presenting conditions
- Impact of difficulties on daily life
- Barriers/facilitators for intervention
What are norm-referenced tests?
Norm-referenced tests are always standardised. They allow a comparison of an individual’s performance to the performance of a larger group called a normative group.
It helps compare an individual to the ‘average.’
What are the advantages/disadvantages of a norm referenced test?
Advantages
Tests are objective
Skills of an individual can be compared to those of a large similar group
Test administration is usually efficient
Widely recognised
Disadvantages
They tell what a person knows, not how a person learns
Do not allow for individualisation
Testing may be unnatural and not representative of normal life
Evaluated isolated skills
May not be appropriate for culturally diverse groups
What are criterion- referenced tests?
They identify what a client can or cannot do (don’t compare individual with anyone else)
They compare what a client can do with the expected level of performance
Often used when assessing clients for neurogenic disorders, fluency disorders or voice disorders
What are the adv/disadvantages of criterion referenced tests?
Advantages Usually objective Test administration is usually efficient Widely recognised Some opportunity for individualisation
Disadvantages
Testing situation may be unnatural
Evaluates skills in isolation
What is Authentic Assessment Approach?
It identifies what s client can and cannot do in an a test environment that is more realistic and natural. Assessment is ongoing.
Strategies include: Real life simulations Language sampling Anecdotal notes Video recording
What are the adv/disadvantages of using an authentic assessment approach?
Natural and similar to real world
Clients participate in self evaluation
Allows for individualisation
Flexible
Disadvantages
Lacks objectivity
Not standardised
Not efficient time wise, required lots of planning and skill
NB Dynamic Assessment is a form of authentic assessment. It evaluates a child’s learning potential based on his ability to modify responses after clinician teaching. Test- teach- retest
To demonstrate competent Case History Taking, what do we need to remember to do?
- Interaction that is respectful and upholds ethical principles (ask for permission)
- Includes open ended questions that don’t impose bias but prompts for more detail as appropriate
- Ability to question, listen and take notes
- Be able to accurately and ethically transform notes into a summary based on ICF: a) personal and environmental factor b) body structures and functions c) activities and participation
What is a speech/language sample? What do we need to remember when collecting?
A speech/language sample is an informal assessment of language skills and it involves a transcription of a specified number of utterances of an individual and their conversational partners. It provides information about morphology, sentence structure, syntax and pragmatics.
Interaction must be respectful
Uphold ethical principles (obtain consent)
Represent individual ‘s typical speech/language production
Accurate transcription of ALL utterances
What are Progress Notes and what must we remember?
Progress Notes are the written or verbal record of client progress, and is an accurate representation of the session.
Written/verbal style appropriate for task and audience
Respectful language
Uphold ethical principles
Follow the SOAP format:
Subjective data, objective data, analysis/assessment of data, plan for the future
What are 5 features of a ‘good’ assessment?
- Be thorough
- Use a variety of assessment modalities
- Be valid
- Be reliable
- Be planned with a specific and individual client in mind
Why is clinical hypothesising important?
It allows us to test what an individual may present with against what we know about a disorder and form a differential diagnosis.
List some practical considerations for assessments.
- Fatigue/time of day
- How many people in room
- Location
- Modalities
- Cultural appropriateness
- Cognition ability
