Lectures 4 & 5

Question 1

List four general purposes of communication assessment, as outlined by Brookshire (2007).

Answer 1

To assist in diagnosing communication impairments, to arrive at a prognosis for recovery, to measure change in communication skills, to determine the nature and severity of impairments, activity and participation restrictions

Question 2

Provide a brief script documenting how you could appropriately a) describe your role as speech pathologist and b) explain why you plan to administer a language assessment.

Answer 2

Hello… My name is Charlotte and I’m a speech language pathologist. I’m here to help you talk to your family and the staff in the hospital. To do this, I’ll need to ask you a few questions and have a chat with you. This will help me understand your difficulties and the best way to help you talk with your family and the hospital staff.

Question 3

List six (6) different and distinct goals of aphasia assessment, as outlined by Chapey (2008).

Answer 3

To determine the presence (or absence) of aphasia, to identify any conditions impacting on the communication difficulty, to analyse the person’s cognitive ability, to analyse the person’s ability to comprehend language content & form, to analyse the person’s ability to produce language content & form, to analyse the person’s ability to comprehend and produce pragmatic aspects of communication interactions (e.g. speech acts, discourse acts).

Question 4

Provide four different and distinct examples of information that may be relevant to obtain in an adult case history that specifically relate to communication activities.

Answer 4

The names of key communication partners (e.g. spouse, children, parents, grandchildren), the types of social contacts (both current and pre-CVA), topics of conversation, communication style prior to the CVA (e.g. talkative, reserved).

Question 5

Name two resources/assessments you could use to obtain information specifically about the communication activities of a client with aphasia.

Answer 5

Communication Activities Checklist (COMPACT), Aphasia Needs Assessment - Revised

Question 6

Describe the Communication Effectiveness Index (CETI) (Lomas et al 1989) by listing a) who typically completes the CETI, b) the response format, c) number of items, and d) examples of two items.

Answer 6

a) A person close to the PWA (e.g. spouse, child, parent, friend), b) A visual analogue scale from “Not at all able” to “As able as before the stroke”, c) 16 items, d) Getting somebody’s attention, giving yes/no answers appropriately”

Question 7

List one reason for completing a social network analysis with a client who has aphasia.

Answer 7

To use it as an outcome measure (the social network of a PWA is likely to be significantly smaller than it was pre-CVA, therefore as communication improves, the PWA’s social network may grow)

Question 8

When informally assessing language, identify whether auditory comprehension skills or verbal expressive skills are typically assessed first and why.

Answer 8

Auditory comprehension skills are typically assessed first because it’s necessary to know if they can comprehend what’s being said so as not to bias the rest of the informal assessment (e.g. marking the client poorly in verbal expression when the issue is they don’t completely understand the task).

Question 9

List four different aspects/components of language that speech pathologists typically assess in an informal language screening assessment.

Answer 9

Spoken discourse, auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading comprehension.

Question 10

Provide two examples of different spoken discourse samples typically obtained in an informal language assessment.

Answer 10

Conversational speech (e.g. asking the PWA how long they’ve been in hospital, about their family), & a picture description task.

Question 11

Provide two examples of different auditory comprehension tasks typically included in an informal language assessment.

Answer 11

Following simple commands (e.g. point to the tissue box/keys/spoon/glass, pick up the keys, put the spoon in the glass, put the tissue box beside the keys), and yes/no questions.

Question 12

Provide two examples of different verbal expression tasks typically included in an informal language assessment.

Answer 12

Automatic speech task (e.g. counting, days of the week, months of the year), and repetition task.

Question 13

Provide two examples of different reading comprehension tasks typically included in an informal language assessment.

Answer 13

Word to picture/object matching, and sentence to picture matching.

Question 14

Provide two examples of different written expression tasks typically included in an informal language assessment.

Answer 14

Writing to dictation, and sentence formulation.

Question 15

Provide one example of a confrontation naming task.

Answer 15

“What is it called?”””

Question 16

Provide one example of a responsive naming task.

Answer 16

“What do you use to brush your teeth?”””

Question 17

Provide one example of a verbal fluency task.

Answer 17

“Name as many animals you can in one minute.”””

Question 18

Provide one example of an ‰Û÷automatic‰Ûª writing task.

Answer 18

Writing the alphabet.

Question 19

Name two commercially available language screening assessments used with people who have aphasia.

Answer 19

SreeLing, Quick Assessment for Aphasia

Question 20

Provide two examples of functional communication tasks you could use in an acute hospital setting with a patient who has moderate or severe aphasia to informally gain an understanding of the patient‰Ûªs language abilities.

Answer 20

Get PWA to read get well cards to check reading ability and comprehension, ask the PWA to name a few objects in the room to check for semantic and/or word-finding difficulties.

Question 21

Name four comprehensive formal language assessments commonly used with people who have aphasia that assess language impairments.

Answer 21

Psycholinguistic Assessment of Language Processing in Aphasia (PALPA), Comprehensive Aphasia Test (CAT), Western Aphasia Battery - Revised (WAB-R), Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination - 3rd edition (BDAE-3)

Question 22

Name four functional communication assessments commonly used with people who have aphasia.

Answer 22

The Communicative Effectiveness Index (CETI), Communication Activities of Daily Living - 2nd edition (CADL-2), In-patient Functional Communication Interview (IFCI), Functional Communication Profile (FCP)

Question 23

List four of the seven areas of The Communication Activities of Daily Living ‰ÛÒ Second Edition (CADL-2).

Answer 23

Social interaction; Non-verbal communication; Reading, writing, & using numbers; Contextual information

Question 24

Provide two examples of relevant questions to include in an informal assessment of quality of life.

Answer 24

Do you feel strong emotions as a result of your impairment?, Do you feel the person you are now is the sam as the person you were before your stroke?

Question 25

List the four overlapping domains in the Living with Aphasia: Framework for Outcome Measurement (A-FROM).

Answer 25

Language & related impairments; Participation in life situations; Personal, identity, attitudes & feelings; Communication & language environment

Question 26

Name two communication related Quality of Life scales commonly used with people who have aphasia.

Answer 26

Visual Analogue Self-Esteem Scale (VASES), Assessment for Living with Aphasia (ALA)

Question 27

What communication disorder frequently occurs with Broca‰Ûªs aphasia and why?

Answer 27

Some form of dyspraxia usually co-occurs with Broca’s aphasia because the site of lesion is close to the motor cortex.

Question 28

List two pieces of information you will typically aim to access from the medical chart or family, prior to your initial patient interview and why you require this information.

Answer 28

Whether the patient is monolingual. This is needed to determine if an interpreter is required; The current medical status because it may not be appropriate to progress to the initial interview if the patient is fluctuating.