Improving Communication with People with an Intellectual Disability: The content validation of the Biala-II profile

Abstract

This study explores the content validity of a pro le used to describe the communication behaviour of people with intellectual disabilities. The pro le, named Biala-II-a Wiradjuri (an Australian Aboriginal language) word for "I understand you"-makes use of the knowledge of informants who are able to provide speci c and detailed information on the ways in which a person communicates. This information can be used by "communication partners" to guide their interactions with a person whom they do not know well. Five samples of experts-parents, researchers, residential workers, speech pathologists, and special education teachers-rated 16 "best practice" indicators and then rated Biala-II in relation to these indicators. They also answered questions about speci c features of the pro le with attention to the methodology employed and the likelihood that its use would improve communication with people with an intellectual disability. The results reveal a high level of support for the pro le. tive impairments. Instead, Biala-II emphasises and operationalises recent themes in the literature that are based on the conceptualisation of communication as a transactional process "in which those persons communicating are mutually responsible for what occurs" (Verderber, 1991, p. 4). These themes emphasise functionality, contexts, and the responsiveness of communication partners.A range of factors appears to be involved in the attention now given to the functions of communication. Research has demonstrated that the communicative intent of the behaviour of individuals with severe disabilities can be reliably inferred (). As in other skill development programs, communication programs now tend to focus less on remediation and more on the skills required for successful participation in the community (Brown et al., 1988). Increasing prominence has also been given to "quality of life" and the role played by functional communication, particularly in making personal choices (Cummins, 1992;Parmenter, 1988;Shaddock, 1991). Finally, the growing in uence of the theory of pragmatics has highlighted the functionality of communication. Consistent with these emphases, Biala-II acknowledges the legitimacy and functions of the person's communication, however unconventional it may appear.Research has also drawn attention to a variety of contextual in uences on communication and it is acknowledged that narrow, clinical assessments of communication may place undue emphasis on "within person" cognitive and motor de cits and their impact on successful communication. Focusing on the social bases for communication, Calculator (1988) and Morse (1988) have proposed widening the approach to communication assessment by including observations in different settings, at different times, under different circumstances. Therefore, comprehensive assessment of communication should not only deal with cognitive, motor, and sensory factors; it should also provide broadly-based information about how the person interacts.Although the "theory of pragmatics" has stressed that...

An Unplanned Journey into Individualised Planning

“…The data indicated that there were major inadequacies in the documentation of the individualised service plans in this sample and it is argued that these de ciencies could prevent service plans from achieving their objective of regulating services and orienting them to the needs and goals of individuals. (p. 73) This focus on meeting the expressed needs of individuals and on improving the ways in which they might exercise more choice and decision-making in their lives was the subject of much of my research in the nineties (Shaddock, Guggenheimer, Rawlings, & Bugel, 1993;Shaddock, Zilber et al, 1993;Zilber, Rawlings, & Shaddock, 1994;Rawlings, Dowse, & Shaddock, 1995;Shaddock, Dowse, Richards, & Spinks, 1998;Shaddock, Spinks, & Esbensen, 2000). In one study we examined the views of people with an intellectual disability about their experiences with individualised plans .…”