Project Description:
Individuals with severe disabilities often experience complex communication disorders. Deficits in communication and language skills are so basic that they affect many other skill areas including social relationships, community integration, educational achievement and employment outcomes. Individuals with ?labels? such as autism, multiple disabilities, deafblindness and those who have various low-incidence disabilities may exhibit a perplexing mosaic of strengths and apparent deficits related to communication skills: such skill profiles are not well evaluated through typical assessment instruments. Without a comprehensive and consistent assessment protocol, appropriate educational intervention or speech-language therapy is not possible. Appropriate communication assessment, intervention and therapy is especially lacking for individuals with severe disabilities who are nonverbal or minimally verbal, who may have no effective means of expression.
The proposed Development project will adapt, refine, evaluate and market an innovative technological e-tool designed to provide appropriate assessment of communication skills for individuals with severe disabilities. The novel e-tool will harness the potential of an online communication assessment protocol to achieve immediate and meaningful individual-level outcomes in the form of cost-effective and appropriate assessment, generation of appropriate educational and therapeutic goals, and monitoring of progress. Www.communicationmatrix.org is a prototype online assessment tool for evaluating the communication skills of individuals at the earliest stages of communication that is based on the valid and reliable Communication Matrix (Rowland, 1990, 1996, 2004). The new e-tool is designed to be used by caregivers and professionals. The proposed project will involve the adaptation, improvement and expansion of this website to increase its usability and educational utility. It is anticipated that use of the new assessment tool will be associated with improved practice through improved communication assessment and the development of appropriate educational/therapeutic goals that are connected directly to assessment results, improved function of the target population in all areas impacted by communicative competence, and improved demographic data related to communication skills in various populations identified by etiology, age and functional impairment. Proposed activities include alpha and beta testing of the new web site and four major evaluation studies. This proposal targets individuals of all ages who experience severe communication disorders. The proposal is a re-submission of one submitted to this competition in 2006.
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN
