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Assessment
94
ACQ
Volume 13, Number 2 2011
ACQ
uiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing
Suze Leitão
I draw on three main texts in
my paediatric clinical practice and
my teaching:
•
Paul, R. (2007).
Language
disorders from infancy through
adolescence
(3rd ed.).
Philadelphia, PA: Mosby. This
contains a wealth of
information on assessment.
•
Haynes, W. & Pindzola,
R. (2008).
Diagnosis and
evaluation in speech pathology
(7th ed.) Boston: Pearson
Education. A great resource
for clinical problem-solving and
decision-making.
•
Shipley, K., & McAfee, J.
(2009).
Assessment in
speech-language pathology:
A resource manual
(4th ed.,
International Student Edition).
New York: Delmar, Cengage Learning. This contains
practical resources galore, many of which are adaptable.
3 A good theory
Good assessment is strongly grounded in theory. The
underlying assumptions of a theoretical framework will
underpin what we choose to assess. Without a set of
questions or hypotheses an assessment battery would be
little more than a series of tests. Without drawing on theory
and evidence, it would also be unethical. The texts
mentioned under no. 2 provide some useful information on
theories of language development.
4 The normal distribution
There is always debate about the advantages and
disadvantages of using norm-referenced tests.
Standardised tests do have their place in our clinical battery
– but should be used and interpreted appropriately. The
A
ssessment is such a large part of our clinical
practice that we really need to understand
what
we are doing and
why
. This will influence how we
go about collecting information. Assessment requires us
to make an informed judgement for a purpose, based on
a sample of behaviour, and is framed by our theoretical
knowledge and our understanding of the current evidence.
Good assessment practice is functional, adaptive,
dimensional, balanced, and grounded in theory. My Top 10
is based on this broad definition.
1 A clear purpose
Understanding “why” we assess is critical to helping us
decide “what” and “how”.
There are many reasons for carrying out assessment,
many of which overlap, but it is important to understand the
purpose(s) before we start. These can include:
•
screening
•
prediction/early identification
•
diagnosis, classification, and referral/placement
•
determining eligibility for a service
•
determining if a “problem” is real
•
establishing baseline functioning
•
establishing goals for intervention and approach to
therapy
•
evaluating progress/measuring change in intervention
•
monitoring recovery, development, degeneration
•
decision making about discharge.
Each of these may require different tools and data
collection and will involve the client to different degrees.
2 A good textbook that will stand the
test of time and help us make an
informed judgment
As clinicians we need to be informed. In paediatric assessment
this means we need to understand typical developmental
norms and trajectories as well as indicators of concern. We
also need to understand the theories that underlie these
trajectories, and the influences of different cultures.
My Top 10 assessment resources
(with a paediatric slant)
Suze Leitão
.13%
.13%
2.14%
2.14%
13.59%
13.59%
34.13% 34.13%
Normal,
bell-shaped curve
−4σ
−3σ
−2σ
−1σ
0
+1σ
+2σ
+3σ
+4σ
0.1% 2.3% 15.9% 50% 84.1% 97.7% 99.9%
1
5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 95 99
Percentage of
cases in 8 portions
of the curve
Standard deviations
Cumulative
percentages
Percentiles