A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists' Approaches to Assessing Social Communication Disorders in Children

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this article is to explore and describe the approaches and specific assessment tools that speech-language pathologists are currently using to assess social communication disorders (SCDs) in children, in relation to current best practices. Method Ninety-four speech-language pathologists completed an online survey asking them to identify which of the following approaches they use to assess children with SCD: parent/teacher report, naturalistic observation, formal assessment, language sample analysis, interviews, semistructured tasks, and peer/self-report. Participants were also asked to identify specific assessment tools they use within each approach. Results Participants most commonly assess SCDs by combining interviews, naturalistic observation, language sampling, parent/teacher report, and formal assessment. Semistructured tasks and peer/self-report tools were less frequently utilized. Several established parent/teacher report and formal assessment tools were commonly identified for assessing SCDs. Most participants use an informal approach for interviews, language sampling, and naturalistic observations in their SCD assessment process. Conclusions Generally, participants follow best practices for assessing SCDs by combining several different approaches. Some considerations for future assessment are identified, including the use of established protocols in the place of informal approaches in order to make the assessment of SCDs more systematic. Future directions for research are discussed.

معوقات تقييم وتشخيص الطلبة ذوي اضطرابات التواصل من وجهة نظر أخصائيي التخاطب بالمدينة المنورة

“…‫ا‬ ‫در‬ ‫التعلم‬ ‫صعوبات‬ ‫ذوي‬ ‫الطالب‬ ‫علمي‬ ُ ‫م‬ ‫تطبيق‬ ‫مستوى‬ ‫حول‬ ‫سة‬ ‫املعلومات‬ ‫جمع‬ ‫يخص‬ ‫فيما‬ ‫التنظيمية‬ ‫القواعد‬ ‫في‬ ‫عليها‬ ‫املنصوص‬ ‫والتشخيص‬ ‫التقييم‬ ‫سس‬ ُ ‫وأ‬ ‫لقواعد‬ ‫نتائج‬ ‫أظهرت‬ ‫التعلم،‬ ‫صعوبات‬ ‫امج‬ ‫لبر‬ ‫األهلية‬ ‫وتحديد‬ ‫والتشخيص،‬ ‫القياس‬ ‫عملية‬ ‫تطبيق‬ ‫وآلية‬ ‫ومصادرها،‬ ‫أن‬ ‫اسة‬ ‫الدر‬ ‫تطبيق‬ ‫مستوى‬ ‫بين‬ ‫متفاوت‬ ‫کان‬ ‫اسة‬ ‫الدر‬ ‫في‬ ‫درجة‬ ُ ‫امل‬ ‫اءات‬ ‫لإلجر‬ ‫التعلم‬ ‫صعوبات‬ ‫ذوي‬ ‫الطالب‬ ‫علمي‬ ُ ‫وجود‬ ‫على‬ ‫الهدف،‬ ‫حيث‬ ‫من‬ ‫السابقة‬ ‫اسات‬ ‫الدر‬ ‫مع‬ ‫الحالية‬ ‫اسة‬ ‫الدر‬ ‫فقت‬ َّ ‫ات‬ ‫حين‬ ‫في‬ ‫السمع،‬ ‫وضعاف‬ ‫م‬ ُّ ‫الص‬ ‫والطلبة‬ ‫سه‬ ُ ‫امل‬ ‫الفئة‬ ‫في‬ ‫معها‬ ‫ت‬ َ ‫واختلف‬ ‫الخاصة،‬ ‫التربية‬ ‫طلبة‬ ‫وتشخيص‬ ‫تقييم‬ ‫في‬ ‫عوقات‬ ُ ‫م‬ ‫اختارت‬ ‫حيث‬ ‫والعينة،‬ ‫هدفة‬ ‫لعدم‬ ‫وذلك‬ ‫التخاطب؛‬ ‫أخصائيي‬ ‫هم‬ ‫والعينة‬ ‫واصل،‬ َّ ‫الت‬ ‫ابات‬ ‫اضطر‬ ‫ذوي‬ ‫الطلبة‬ ‫هم‬ ‫سههدفة‬ ُ ‫امل‬ ‫الفئة‬ ‫الحالية‬ ‫اسة‬ ‫ر‬ ِّ ‫الد‬ ‫وآخرون‬ ‫اريك‬ ‫إيز‬ ‫اسة‬ ‫در‬ ‫هدفت‬ ‫وقد‬ ‫والعينة.‬ ‫املسههدفة‬ ‫للفئة‬ ‫اسات‬ ‫الدر‬ ‫تناول‬(Izaryk et al, 2021) …”