The Bridge School: A Community of Practice in AAC

Convergent validity of functional communication tools and spoken language comprehension assessment in children with cerebral palsy

“…Valid and standardized assessment of functional communication and spoken language comprehension is essential for decision making regarding the prescription and evaluation of AAC, as well as decisions regarding adequate educational programmes (Dietz et al., 2012; Drager et al., 2010; Geytenbeek et al., 2010; Light & Drager, 2007). The positive effects of using AAC are well known (Hunt‐Berg, 2005; Romski & Sevcik, 1997) and children who use AAC show increased levels of educational and social participation over time (Hunt‐Berg, 2005). The use of AAC also plays an important role in language learning and communicative development (Romski & Sevcik, 1997).…”

“…Spoken language comprehension is pivotal for functional communication (Pennington et al, 2020) as it provides a foundation for the acquisition of the meaning of symbols and other communicational signs (Sevcik, 2006). In order to communicate effectively, a prerequisite is to understand the communication partner (Hoff, 2015). When SLTs wish to determine the most suitable AAC, proper evaluation of an individual's comprehensive language skills is crucial.…”

“…In clinical rehabilitation, the development of children with CP is compared with typical developing (TD) children. In typical language and communication development, consecutive developmental stages can be distinguished that are demarcated by age-related milestones (Hoff, 2015). Educational systems typically lean heavily on TD developmental stages.…”

“…Allocating children to developmental stages based on the educational system seems to make comparisons between CP and TD children easier for educational professionals, healthcare professionals and parents and therefore makes these findings much more usable. Furthermore, when functional communication and spoken language comprehension are described and assessed, selection of an appropriate tool to obtain valid functional outcomes requires the developmental stage of the child to be taken into account (Hoff, 2015). Especially in toddlers (<4 years), relationships between functional outcomes may differ from relationships found in older children.…”

“…Even in TD language and communication, toddlers form a heterogeneous group and more often depend on non-verbal communication. It is thought that receptive communication and spoken language comprehension precedes expressive language and communication (Carroll, 2008;Hoff, 2015).…”