Diagnostic assessment and treatment goals in logopedics: impairments, disabilities and handicaps

This study was aimed to investigate to what extent impairments, disabilities and handicaps are used as diagnostic assessments and treatment goals in logopedics. Traditionally, logopedists are mainly concerned with impairments. These days, increasing attention is demanded for disabilities and handicaps as well. A survey study was carried out on 1,567 patients in logopedic practices in the Netherlands to provide an empirical quantitative description of diagnostic assessments and treatment goals, formulated in terms of impairments, disabilities and handicaps. Results show that logopedists indeed often indicate impairments as diagnostic assessments and as treatment goals, particularly language development impairments and phonetic/phonological articulation impairments. Interestingly, also large numbers of diagnostic assessments and treatment goals were indicated at the level of disabilities and handicaps; the most important being disability in expressing communication and occupational handicap. These results demonstrate that disabilities and handicaps may serve an important function in logopedics, in that they may guide assessment as well as therapy. It is concluded that disabilities and handicaps should be considered in the future development of the profession of logopedics.