Cognitive EvaluationsCognitive EvaluationsCognitive EvaluationsCognitive Evaluations

Factors Important in Assessments

• 1. Developmental History

• 2. Cultural Uniqueness

• 3. Impact of Disability

Approaches to Assessment

• 1. Free play, Elicited, Structured Play

• 2. Dynamic Assessment – test/teach/test

• 3. Criterion Referenced Assessments

• 4. Norm-Referenced AssessmentsBatelle Developmental InventoryBayley Scales of Infant Devel.: 3Differential Ability Scales: 2Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children

Learning Accomplishment Profile- Diagnostic Standardized AssessmentLeiter International Performance Scale: RevisedMerrill-Palmer Developmental Scales: RMullen Scales of Early LearningPediatric Evaluation of Disability Invent.

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: V• Syracuse Scales of Infant and

Toddler Development• Wechsler Preschool and Primary

Scale of Intelligence: III• Woodcock-Johnson

Psychoeducational Battery: 3

Criterion-Referenced Instruments

Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development: Revised

Carolina Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers with Special Needs: 2

Developmental Observation Checklist

Gesell Developmental Schedule

• Hawaii Early Learning Profiles• High/Scope Child Observation

Record• Infant-Toddler Developmental

Assessment• Vulpe’ Assessment Battery-Revised• Work Sampling System

Assessing Assessing Communication SkillsCommunication Skills

Assessing Assessing Communication SkillsCommunication Skills

Why do we assess communication skills?

1. Communication develops in relation to a child’s social, emotional, cognitive, and motor skills.

2. All professionals and family members interact through communication.

3. 80% of children receiving special education have primary or secondary communication deficits

4. Language impairments in preschool years often have later academic, emotional, and/or behavioral difficulties – 60% in special ed

• Speech: the production of speech sounds

• Receptive Language: comprehension of language and how it is acted upon

• Expressive Language: how words are expressed or verbalized

Development of Communication &

Language • Pragmatics: Rules that govern the

use of language in social contexts and for the purpose of communication3-6 months: increase interactions, turn-

taking8-12 months: gestures and sound

vocalizations

12-15 months: words and word approximations18 months: combine words and to indicate their communicative intent3-4 years: maintain a topic of conversation

Phonology: rules for the formation of speech sounds, or phonemes, and how phonemes are joined together into words6-8 months: speech and non-speech

9-15 months: word-like sounds Age 3: produce many sounds Age 4: produce most sounds

Syntax: the rule system for combining words into phrases and sentences12-15 months: 1 word

18 months: 2 words 2 years: 3 words 2-2 ½ years: 2-3 words, questions,

negations, imperatives

• 3 years: complex sentence structure

5 years: basic and complex syntactic structures

MLU – Mean Length of Utterance

Semantics: rules for the meanings of words and their joint relationship to one another

18 months: say 50 words, comprehend 300 words

2 years: produce 500 words

2 ½ to 3 years: comprehend 1,000 words

4 years: how to use language as a tool to focus on language form and content

Types of Communication

Assessments1. Standardized Tests of Language

and Communication2. Criterion-Referenced and Non-

standardized Instruments3. Ecological Approach in Assessment4. Communication Sampling5. Decision Trees

Intervention Guidelines1. Start at the Child’s level2. Move vertically and horizontally3. Watch the child for cues4. Be functional5. Follow the interests of the child6. Target behaviors for success

7. Consider the content of the activities

8. Be efficient: target more than one goal

9. Use direct training at times10.Be facilitative: modeling