JCPSLP vol 19 no 3 2017 low res. pdf

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 3 2017 175
speech-language pathologist’s clinical tools kit. When
working with children and adolescents who have EBD,
ADHD and/or ODD, a wide range of engaging resources
are a must.
1. Mr Bean clips: are effective for both assessment
and therapy, covering a range of language and
communication areas. Mr Bean is great for working
on social communication skills including reading body
language and facial expressions, developing emotional
vocabulary, interpreting situations and looking at cause
and effect relationships.
2. Comic strips: are an effective way to encourage
written language. Students perceive comics to be “less
demanding” because written language is limited and
there are pictures to facilitate story ideas. To access a
range of comic strips try (however,
there are also a range of free options on the internet).
3. Spider web: the concept of a spider web representing
the “trouble” and “problems faced” is a strong visual
scaffold that students can use when trying to address
cause and effect relationships and problem-solving
skills. An example of how it may be used is as follows:
• The student makes a spider web from string
including a spider in the middle.
• The student identifies the behaviours that get them
into trouble or the problems they face as well as
when these behaviours/problems happen.
• Write the problem behaviours onto flies and stick
the flies around the spider web. The riskier or more
dangerous the behaviour the closer to the spider it is
placed.
• On a separate piece of paper the student lists
positive consequences that occur when they don’t
carry out the negative behaviour or think before
acting.
The web is continuously referred back to, with the
emphasis being that they DON’T want the consequences
of their actions to “get them stuck in the web”.
4. Pen pals: one of the best tools for literacy involving
social communication skills is introducing pen pals
. Pen pals allow
students to engage in monitored written exchanges
whereby they need to think about grammar, sentence
construction, and type and specificity of vocabulary and
information. They learn that people’s experiences may
be different to theirs because of where they live. It is a
novelty for students when they find themselves taking
on the role of teacher, as the person they are sharing the
information with often states that they want help to learn
how to read and write in English.
9 Books
Despite the known importance of books in learning
environments, they may be considered “taboo” by
individuals with EBD, ADHD and/or ODD as they can
represent a culmination of the difficulties that a student
experiences with communication, literacy and higher level
problem solving. It is therefore important to find books that
students are prepared to engage with. Pick a path/
adventure books (also known as choose your own
adventure) or Treasure Quest Magical Adventure Mazes by
Bob Beeson are interactive as well as short and easily
adapted in order to develop a range of age groups and
literacy levels.
or listening exercises. Games facilitate a focus on
comprehension skills (following instructions), problem-
solving, planning, expressive language (including seeking
clarification), and social and literacy skills (reading
instructions). Three great multipurpose games are:
1. Man bites dog – Construct a “news worthy” headline
using a hand of cards. This targets literacy skills (reading
and comprehending written information and sentence
construction), language skills (vocabulary development,
inferencing) and social communication (humour, irony,
factual/ inferential interpretations). Ask for a story to
attach to the headline to extend the game into an oral or
written language exercise.
2. Bop It – A game requiring players to follow a series of
verbal instructions, used to address processing and
comprehension skills. It also has the “active component”
for those who have attentional difficulties and has the
added benefit of a competitive element (either against
the clinician or others).
3. JENGA – Players take turns removing one block at
a time and placing it back onto the tower. Jenga can
help with problem-solving, impulsiveness (cause–effect
relationships), attention to details, and planning skills. It
can be adapted to target vocabulary/semantics whereby
the SP sticks names linked to different categories onto
the blocks. The student rolls a dice and, depending
on the number it lands on, they are asked to remove a
block linked to that category.
6 Formal assessment tools
It can be challenging to complete formal assessment with
this population due to high refusal rates and difficulty
attending and concentrating. If a formal assessment is
required and deemed to be of value, use a test that is short
and appears non-confrontational. A few to try are:
• The Expression Reception and Recall of Narratives
Instrument (ERNNI) (Bishop, 2004);
• Test of Language Competence – Expanded (TLC – E)
(Wiig & Secord 1989);
• Social Emotional Evaluation (SEE) (Wiig, 2008);
• Student version of the Functional Assessment of
Verbal Reasoning and Executive Strategies (S-FAVRES)
(MacDonald, 2013; 2016).
7 Screening questionnaires
As many children/teenagers spend much of their time in
school or at home, the use of questionnaires to collect
information is an important part of the assessment process.
In fact, with disorders such as ADHD the assessment is
considered incomplete without this information. A number
of questionnaires can be used with individuals who have
behavioural issues to gather information about functional
activities and behavioural attributes. One that can be freely
downloaded is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
(SDQ) (Goodman, 1997). This tool is suitable for children
aged 3–16 years. The SDQ includes questionnaires for
parents, teachers and a self-report version for adolescents
(11–16 years). Another questionnaire commonly used in
research to screen for language impairment, particularly
pragmatic impairment, is the Children’s Communication
Checklist – CCC-2 (Bishop, 2003).
8 Fun activities for assessment and
therapy
Having a collection of fun and engaging activities suitable
for different age groups is an essential element of a