Assessing Communication in Children with Complex Communication Needs: Development of the Italian IVCAA Structured...

Background: Individuals with complex communication needs (CCNs) require comprehensive communication profiles to guide effective interventions, yet the clinical literature offers limited tools to support this process. To address this gap, the "Italian CP & Language Network"-a multidisciplinary group of speech-language pathologists, psychologists, and child neuropsychiatrists-developed a novel, comprehensive clinical instrument specifically designed to evaluate the communication skills of children and adolescents with CCNs. Methods: The development process was informed by an initial preliminary survey conducted across participating clinical centres to map out the observation tools routinely used in daily practice. Results: Based on these insights, the network designed a structured clinical interview named the Italian IVCAA (Intervista sulla Valutazione delle Competenze e delle Abilità Comunicative). The instrument was structured to systematically assess four core areas: core communication abilities, communicative behaviours, communicative functions, and communicative modalities (vocal, gestural, graphic/symbolic, and written). The Italian IVCAA provides a structured framework that successfully describes an individual's unique communication profile. It maps out specific strengths and weaknesses across diverse modalities, establishing a standardized baseline for clinical use. Conclusions: The Italian IVCAA serves as a valuable clinical tool for identifying communication profiles in individuals with CCNs. It offers a practical starting point for setting tailored goals in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions and establishes a reliable framework for monitoring changes in communicative competence over time.