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conducting and interpreting efficacy research, ensuring that the voices of our clients are not marginalised or forgotten in the quest for evidence based practice. Directing assessment with the client’s voice in mind links directly with notions of ecological validity and again argues for the use of an overarching framework like the ICF to ensure that the selection of assessment tasks, and subsequent goal setting and treatment planning are governed by a rich, holistic understanding of our client’s needs, values, and perspectives. Summary This column of “What’s the evidence?” has called for clinicians to sit back and reflect on their assessment practice. Does the suite of assessments routinely used consider all domains of the ICF to allow functional and holistic outcome measurement? Do the assessment tools have adequate ecological validity, in addition to established psychometric credibility? Is assessment driven by a clear overarching theoretical framework to guide the selection of measures, interpretation, and integration of results? Following this reflection, it would be interesting to see whether we find the evidence to continue as we have done, or whether it highlights the need to throw the “old faithful” away and search for new measures or tools that support our goal to become evidence based practitioners. Ultimately, there is a need for dedicated research and the development of new tools and resources to guide not only intervention, but also evidence based assessment. References Apel, K. (1999). Checks and balances: Keeping the science in our profession. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools , 30 , 98–107. Baker, E., Croot, K., Mcleod, S., & Paul, R. (2001). Psycholinguistic models of speech development and their application to clinical practice. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research , 44 , 685–702. Chaytor, N., & Schmitter-Edgecombe, M. (2003). The ecological validity of neuropsychological tests: A review of the literature on everyday cognitive skills. Neuropsychology Review , 13 (4), 181–197. Dollaghan, C. (2007). The handbook for evidence-based practice in communication disorders . Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Hasson, N., & Joffe, V. (2007). The case for dynamic assessment in speech and language therapy. Child Language Teaching and Therapy , 23 (1), 9–25. Justice, L. (2008). Evidence-based practice in speech- language pathology: Scaling up. The South African Journal of Communication Disorders , 55 , 6–15. Justice, L. (2010). When craft and science collide: Improving therapeutic practices through evidence-based practice. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology , 12 (2), 79–86. Kagan, A., & Simmons-Mackie, N. (2007). Beginning with the end: Outcome driven assessment and intervention with life participation in mind. Topics in Language Disorders , 27 (4), 309–317. Kagan, A., Simmons-Mackie, N., Rowland, A., Huijbregts, M., Shumway, E., McEwan, S., … Sharp, S. (2008). Counting what counts: A framework for capturing real-life outcomes of aphasia intervention. Aphasiology , 22 (3), 258–280. Kertesz, A. (2006). Western aphasia battery – Revised (WAB-R). San Antonio, TX: PsychCorp. Koul, R. (2007). Clinicians must take into account the validity, reliability, sensitivity, and practical utility of aphasia screening tools before using them on their patients.

Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention , 1 (4), 162–163. Kovarsky, D. (2008). Representing voices from the life- world in evidence based practice. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders , 43 (S1), 47–57. McLeod, S., & Threats, T. T. (2008). The ICF-CY and children with communication disabilities. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology , 10 (1–2), 92–109. Plante, E. (1996). Observing and interpreting behaviours: An introduction to the clinical forum. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools , 27 , 99-101. Reilly, S., Douglas, J., & Oates, J. (Eds.). (2004). Evidence- based practice in speech pathology . London: Whurr Publishers. Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M., Gray, J. A., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: What it is and what it isn’t: It’s about integrating individual clinical expertise and the best external evidence. British Medical Journal , 312 , 71–72. Sackett, D. L., Straus, S. E., Richardson, W. S., Rosenberg, W., & Haynes, R. B. (2000). Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingston. Semel, E., Wiig, E., & Secord, W. (2006). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals (4th ed., Australian). Marrickville, NSW: Harcourt Assessment. Speech Pathology Australia. (2010). Evidence-based practice in speech pathology . Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia. Tate, R. L. (2010). A compendium of tests, scales and questionnaires: The practitioners guide to measuring outcomes after acquired brain impairment . East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press. Tate, R. L., & Perdices, M. (2008). Applying the international classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF) to clinical practice and research in acquired brain impairment. Brain Impairment , 9 (3), 282–292. Threats, T. T., & Worrall, L. (2004). Classifying communication disability using the ICF. Advances in Speech-Language Pathology , 6 , 53–62. Turkstra, L. S., Coelho, C., & Ylvisaker, M. (2005). The use of standardized tests for individuals with cognitive- communication disorders. Seminars in Speech and Language , 26 (4), 215–222. Verna, A., Davidson, B., & Rose, T. (2009). Speech- language pathology services for people with aphasia: A survey of current practice in Australia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology , 11 (3), 191–205. World Health Organization. (2001). International classification of functioning, disability and health . Geneva: Author. World Health Organization. (2007). International classification of functioning, disability and health – Children and youth version . Geneva: Author. Mary Claessen and Jade Cartwright are both lecturers at Curtin University involved in teaching the principles of evidence based practice to students and committed to bridging the divide between theory and research, and practice.

Correspondence to: Mary Claessen Curtin University of Technology School of Psychology and Speech Pathology Perth 6845 Australia phone:+61 8 9266 3472 fax:+61 8 9266 2464 email: m.claessen@curtin.edu.au

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www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au