Based on the case study, answer the points (in red) regarding the assessment of language and communication skills:
Explain how you would go about assessing the child’s language skills in terms of your use of informal and formal approaches to assessment.
Explain the areas of language that you wish to assess. (Receptive language-Comprehension and Context and Expressive- Using Language and Speech)
Discuss to what extent your assessment will consist of informal and formal assessment.
Why are you opting for the strategy you have decided upon? What are the relative strengths over formal/informal methods for this particular case?
Provide details of which formal assessments and/or other published tools you would choose to help you with your assessment and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these tools.
List the formal/standardised procedures you plan to use.
For each:
Explicitly state which aspect of language/communication the test will probe.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this procedure for use with your chosen child. You can explain why you have chosen the specific test you have and not an alternative (if there is one).
Critically evaluate other factors, (including factors to do with the profile of the child and ethical considerations), not given in the details of the case here, that will have an impact on which assessments you use or how you go about assessing. Support your reasoning with reference to published research/literature.
In part 3 make sure you reflect upon the possibility that the child might have other difficulties (additional needs) in addition to their deafness and that you have not been told exactly what level their language is at.
You also need to reflect upon how much formal testing is appropriate/ethical and consider the fact that other professionals might also have tested the language skills of the child and the implications of this in terms of the use of formal assessments.
Discuss how you would use this information to programme plan
Evaluate the relevance of language and communication assessment to programme planning.
Is it possible to plan individual language targets without having an assessment of language skills?
How will your assessment enable you to select the most important areas for development?
How will it help you to provide advice to others working with the child and to the child’s family?
Tips:
Answer the questions (and read them carefully). Make sure you stay on topic.
Focus = child’s language and communication skills.
Case Study:
Francesca is 14 years old and was diagnosed with profound bilateral sensorineural deafness at birth and fitted with hearing aids at 8 weeks of age and then with bilateral cochlear implants at 14 months. Francesca’s parents and siblings are all hearing and she communicates orally in her mainstream school placement. English is the first language of Francesca and her family.
