AAC Assessment

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AAC Assessment

• Sherri Tennant,. M.S., CCC/SLP
• Maureen Melonis, M.N.S., CCC/SLP
• Assistive Technology Partners, University of
  Colorado Health Sciences Center

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Learning Objectives/Goals for this training

• Participants will understand the components of an
  effective assessment (Phase 1,2,3)
• Participants will have skills to critique other
  assessments and identify missing information
• Participants will be able to locate resources and
  additional training

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Goal 1 Components of and Effective Assessment

• Phase One Assessment
• Involvement of Team
• Phase Two Assessment
• Consideration of Features
• Understanding of Needs/Barriers
• Phase Three Assessment
• Ongoing evaluation in context

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Phase One Assessment

• An information sharing process focusing on
  gathering information, assigning roles and
  responsibilities and developing a timeline for
  action
• Includes all relevant team members, especially
  the child and their family

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What does your team look like?

• Who is on your team?
• How do you gather information?
• What information do you gather?/miss?
• What works/what doesnt?
• What are some barriers to successful teaming and
  assessment?

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How important is teaming
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Technology Abandonment

• Non-use or abandonmentcan be as high as 75
• On the average, one-third of assistive technology
  devices are abandoned, most within the first
  three months
• (Adapted from Phillips Zhao, 1993 and Scherer
  and Galvin, 1994)

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Components of Phase One of the Assessment

• Introductions why they are here
• Review meeting process
• Review background info reason for referral
• Discuss the Roles of the individuals
• Discuss the Activities he or she engages in

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At the Assessment

• Discuss the barriers to those activities
• Discuss times it was successful and why
• Discuss the environment/setting where barriers
  occur
• Discuss Prior technology History

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More Components of Phase One Assessment

• Develop a Plan of Action for Phase II
• Capture must statements

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Phase Two

• Definition Phase Two is carrying out the plan of
  action developed in phase one.
• The members of the team focus on data collection
  and the exploration of specific features an
  individual requires

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Components of Phase Two Assessment

• Reconvene appropriate team members
• Conduct physical, cognitive, educational,
  sensory, communication, etc assessments as needed
• Match the TECHNOLOGY to the Person
• Set-up a trial Loan of the Equipment for phase 3

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Areas to Address in Phase Two

• Communication Skills
• Cognitive/Educational Skills
• Motor Skills
• Visual Skills
• Auditory Skills

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Where Do I Begin?

• Many professionals in fields such as speech
  pathology have been trained to use
  norm-referenced tests designed to compare an
  individuals abilities to those of same-age
  peers. These professionals may be frustrated
  when they attempt to evaluate persons who require
  AAC systems, because they cannot administer the
  norm-referenced tests in a standardized manner.
  Beukelman Mirenda
• AAC Management ...

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Communication Assessment

1. Determine Current Functional Communication Levels

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Communication Assessment

• Predict Future Levels of Communication
  Effectiveness

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Communication Assessment

• Identify Functional Communication Goals and
  Treatment Options

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Communication Assessment

• Select AAC Treatment Techniques

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Communication Assessment

• Select Specific AAC Device and Accessories

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Communication Assessment

• Determine Procurement, Training, Practice, And
  Follow Up Needs
• Golinker Ourand 12/99 Archived Kornreich
  Technology Center
• http//www.kornreich.org/events/pastevents.htm

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Cognitive Skills

• I.Q.
• Problem-solving skills
• Ability to follow directions
• Cause/effect
• Long term memory
• Short term memory
• Object permanence
• Attention span
• Motivation

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Literacy Skills

• Identifies letters/words/etc
• Creates simple sentences
• Selects a desired word from a list
• Reads words/sentences/stories for meaning
• Spelling skills

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Gross Motor Skills

• Ambulatory status
• Technology needs
• Flexion/abduction/extension issues ranges
• Upper and lower extremities
• Strength/Endurance/Fatigue
• Positioning (across time and environment)
• Tone
• Reflexes

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Fine Motor Skills

• Range of Motion
• Access Options
• Handedness
• Grasp pattern
• Strength/Endurance/Force
• Graphomotor skills
• Switch access

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Sensory Skills

• Tactile Discrimination/sensitivities
• Vestibular issues
• Proprioceptive
• Reflex integration

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Visual Skills

• Visual tracking
• Visual scanning
• Visual field
• Visual accommodation
• Visual acuity
• Visual perception

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Auditory Skills

• Localization to sound
• Hearing acuity
• Response to auditory stimuli
• Response understanding to sound, music, speech
  output
• Auditory distractions
• Consider comm. Partner
• Volume

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Phase Three

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed
  plan and technology recommendations.
• Trial and error experiences influence the
  revision of the Plan of Action prior to purchase
• Develop details for ongoing management of the AAC
  system/recommendations

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Phase III

• Procure Equipment
• Procure Training/Implementation Services as
  Needed
• Re-evaluate
• Assistive Technology assessment is Ongoing and
  Deliberate.
• Or in other words-it never ends!!!

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Phase III

• Develop treatment plan
• Develop training strategies and details
• Develop functional goals

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Goal 2

• Participants will have skills to critique other
  assessments and identify missing information

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What to look for in a report

• Make recommendations about features
• Identify specific devices for trial
• Describe equipment and procedures for practice
• Describe plan of implementation (whos
  responsible for programming/repair)
• Use appropriate language for funding source

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Critique what you see

• Assessing more then one thing at a time
• The child not understanding the task
• The location of the assessment
• Dont over assess
• Access Barriers

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Goal 3

• Participants will be able to locate resources and
  additional training

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AAC Assessment Resources

• Assessment Models
• MPT Model
• HATT Model
• SETT
• LAP
• ETP
• WATI

• Assessment Protocals
• Stages
• Evaluware
• Other standardized tests (Non-Speech, PPVT-R,
  PALS)

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Resources

• http//aac.unl.edu/
• www.ttac.odu.edu/ Articles/Gamel.html
• http//www.aacproducts.org/
• http//www.trace.wisc.edu/
• http//www.wati.org/
• www.donjohnston.com/catalog/nonspeechd.htm
  (nonspeech test)

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Resources (contd.)

• Stages http//www.assistivetech.com/
• Evaluware http//www.assistivetech.com/
• Feature Match Assessments
• Assistive Technology Partners
• www.uchsc.edu/atp

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Learning Objectives/Goals for this training

• Participants will understand the role that
  assessment plays in technology abandonment.
• Participants will be able to identify necessary
  components for a successful augmentative
  communication assessment.
• Participants will demonstrate increased knowledge
  of the benefits of matching the technology to the
  person rather than matching the person to the
  technology.