Pittsburgh AAC Language Seminar Series:
Ongoing Assessment that Guides Intervention and Develops Communicative Competence
DAY 1 – (10AM – 5:30PM EST)
Core Vocabulary
Language Acquisition
Communication Partner Training
UNITY® Language System – Hands-on Time
DAY 2 – (10AM – 5:30PM EST)
Guest Speaker Presentation (Details Below)
DAY 3 – (10AM – 5:30PM EST)
Recognition Memory and Motor Automaticity
Language Development in the Classroom
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Conversation with Chris Klein (individual who uses a UNITY® system)
PASS Software Training
Natural Polysemy
Ongoing Assessment that Guides Intervention and Develops Communicative Competence
Tracy Kovach, PhD, CCC-SLP
Determining levels of communicative competence through ongoing AAC assessment is essential to providing guidance in developing interventions strategies and achieving meaningful and measurable outcomes that increase communicative competence rather than arbitrary goal attainment for individuals using AAC. Using a process of ongoing AAC assessment enables development of individual AAC performance profiles, more comprehensive and evidence-based treatment plans, and effective AAC team management when varying levels of knowledge about AAC may otherwise impede the focus of an individual’s AAC program.
This presentation will focus on the topic of ongoing assessment that can guides intervention planning. It will review definitions of communicative competence (Light ’89, ‘14) and how these can be initially assessed, guide intervention planning and measure progress for individuals who use AAC. Case examples are used to demonstrate assessment, intervention planning, and progress measurement that maximize outcomes toward language development and communicative competence.