Using the ICF-CY to Guide Communication Instruction for AAC Users
Project Description:
Purpose: We propose to develop and evaluate a new "AAC-ICF" framework based on the International Classification of Function-Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY) to profile communication strengths and needs and guide communication intervention in children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The functional evaluation of communication skills in children who do not use speech for expression remains elusive to many special educators and speech-language pathologists. A lack of appropriate profiles to describe communication skills prevents the development of appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and instructional programs targeting those goals.
Setting: We will recruit special educators and speech-language pathologists from across the nation to use the new AAC-ICF framework so that we can evaluate its reliability and validity for developing standardized IEP goals that drive systematic AAC intervention.
Population: The target population is children in public school K-12 programs who experience severe communication disorders and who use AAC to augment or replace speech.
Diagnostic framework to be evaluated: The ICF-CY, developed by the World Health Organization, provides a systematic coding scheme for characterizing health information that stresses human functioning (rather than disability), a universal model (rather than a minority model), an interactive/integrative model (rather than a linear model confined to medical or social spheres) and wide cultural applicability. It addresses the context of function, not just the person whose function is evaluated. The ICF model involves Body Functions and Structure, Activities and Participation related to a health condition or disability as well as contextual factors (Environmental and Personal) that affect them. The ICF is particularly well-suited to use in AAC because it completely separates speech functions from communication functions (unlike most existing communication assessments) and it includes a strand on communication devices. AAC specialists already use a participation model for assessment and goal setting. The ICF-CY offers a participation model that crosses educational, medical and social barriers that presently limit the documentation of AAC skills and the development of appropriate AAC instructional goals.
Primary research method: This research has five major components that constitute an iterative process to validate a new use for an existing framework: 1) extract AAC-related items from the ICF-CY to create an AAC-ICF profile; 2) evaluate the psychometric properties of this profile; 3) statistically compare IEP goals created by professionals randomly assigned either to an AAC-ICF profile condition or to a comparison condition; 4) develop materials for mapping AAC-ICF diagnostic profiles directly to IEP goals related to AAC intervention; 5) field test the new framework with professionals in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Key Outcomes: We will develop and evaluate an AAC-ICF framework to create diagnostic profiles of communication strengths and needs and to develop systematic instructional goals for AAC intervention for children with severe communication disorders in grades K-12.
Keyword(s):
International Classification of Function; AAC; Communication Intervention
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Employment-Related Activities, Quality of Life, Other - Assistive Technology
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
National, International
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
