Kelley Kennedy
Williams, A.L. (2002). Prologue: Perspectives in the assessment of children’s speech. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11, 211-212.
TAP
The topic of this article is to introduce several different author’s opinions on assessment and theory and to state the importance of assessment’s connection to theory. The intended audience is the student of Communication Disorders, or maybe the practicing clinician who wishes to better understand the purpose for the articles that follow. The purpose of this article is to express the importance relating assessment to theoretical beliefs.
Claims
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Assessment must be accurate and complete to be effective. This will lead to goals that are designed to make the most improvement in the least amount of time.
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There are many questions imbeded in a clinician’s assessment decision. Personal beliefs and theory form the groundwork for assessment. Theory keeps assessment guided.
Evidence
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Goals based on phonological assessment may help maximize the outcome of treatment. Successful phonological intervention relies on the disorders prognosis, severity, characteristics, and nature. All of these should be gauged in an assessment. Appropriate goals also effect the outcome of treatment and are reliant on a thorough assessment.
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The procedures a clinician chooses to use in assessment are a reflection of what they believe about theory and the speech disorder itself. Many different clinicians have different beliefs about how assessment should be addressed and used. They all have different answers to the assessment questions and different perspectives. (What data should you collect? What aspects of communication should be assessed? How are different disorders differentially diagnosed? What tests should be used? What are the reccommendations for intervention?) Following a specific theory allows a clinician to be effective in assessment in the limited 60 to 90 minutes alloted. Current techniques should be questioned in light of new theories. This will develop stronger “rationales” and a better understanding of proceduers used.
Connections
text-to-self – The information in this article makes me think of evaluations I have observed in the past several months. Without knowing sometimes, a clinician looks to what they believe when deciding what to include in an evaluation. They think about what they have learned in classes regarding theory and it’s practice. We have been taught what is important for the functioning of speech patients, the causes of disorders, differential diagnostic tools, and different testing procedures. Throughout all of this, clinicians have been able to construct their own belief system and find theories that fit most appropriately into it. I believe that after graduation, I/they will be able to do this more effectively because the more exposure one has, the more they can learn about certain proceduers and theories.
text-to-text – This information regarding different beliefs in various theories makes me think about the text and coursework in 325. This is the first class in which I had to read about language development theories as it relates to speech therapy. I remember learning that some of them had conflicting information and choosing one would guide how we approach therapy/assessment. The way we understand disorders is dependant on what we believe causes them and how they manifest themselves in patients. This effects the way we gather information about them in an assessment and what we believe is important to know.
text-to-world – I think that this is a very important topic to think about before I start seeing clients and doing evaluations. Assessment could be very ineffective if a clinician just takes shots in the dark and hopes to get useful informaiton. But, if a clinician prescribes to a certian system that allows them to know what they are looking for and how to go about it, then assessment will be much more informative and useful in guiding therapy. This is a topic that I don’t have much experience in and I need to know more before I begin clinicals. It will allow me to be more goal oriented and have a better planned, more organized assessment when I am called to do one.
