Question
I understand the need for authentic assessment but do you have a suggestion for a ''guide'' of sorts to help us stay focused and looking at all the necessary elements? I kind of feel overwhelmed with info lately and now can't think clearly about it all.
Answer
These checklists are appropriate for children with mild to moderate pragmatic difficulties.
Shipley, K., McAfee, J. (1998) Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology, San Diego: Singular Publishing Group.
There is a general checklist and protocol for eliciting the behaviors on page 202-203.
Nelson, N. (1998) Childhood Language Disorders in Context, Boston, Allyn & Bacon.
In chapter 6, there are charts on pages 217 and 225 that can be used for organizing pragmatic and semantic assessment information. There are additional tables in chapters 7, 9, and 11.
In response to a previous question on pragmatic assessment, Karen L. Thomas, MS/CCC-SLP. wrote Speech Pathology Online and provided two tools for use with children with severe pragmatic difficulties, such as autism. Karen Thomas is a speech-language pathologist for the Pittsburgh Public schools and provides services via autistic support classrooms. She has spent the last 8 years working with children with autism. Dr. Creaghead agreed with Ms. Thomas' suggestions of the following tools for these children:
The Pragmatic Language Chart by Susan Diamond, SLP from the April 1998 2nd Annual SHARE Support, Inc. NLD Symposium. This information can be accessed at www.nldline.com
The Functional Communication Profile - Revised by Larry I. Kleiman, which can be purchased through Linguisystems catalogue or their website at www.linguisystems.com.
