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The functional assessment of verbal impairment
Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. Supplement
|January 1, 1983
Summary
Standard communication assessments often fail to capture real-world functional performance. Evaluating brain-damaged patients requires observing natural communication, not just artificial test conditions, for effective rehabilitation.
Area of Science:
- Neurolinguistics
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Traditional assessments of verbal impairment in brain-damaged patients often use artificial conditions.
- These standard measures do not adequately capture spontaneous, habitual language use.
- Functional communication performance is crucial for social participation and quality of life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the limitations of standard measures in assessing functional communication.
- To advocate for the inclusion of naturalistic observations in communication assessments.
- To emphasize the importance of a functional communication philosophy in clinical practice.
Main Methods:
- Critique of traditional assessment methodologies in speech pathology.
- Emphasis on observational methods within the patient's natural environment.
- Discussion of incorporating functional communication measures into rehabilitation evaluations.
Main Results:
- Standardized tests provide limited insight into a patient's actual communication abilities.
- Brain-damaged patients possess potential for functional communication beyond verbal output.
- Current practices often neglect the assessment of unforced, voluntary communication.
Conclusions:
- A functional approach to communication assessment is essential for effective management of brain-damaged patients.
- Rehabilitation must include observations in natural settings or use established functional communication measures.
- The speech pathology field needs to universally adopt a functional communication philosophy.