0 Kate Silver, Autism Initiatives
This fully photocopiable resource offers a flexible framework for the assessment and measurement of the communication skills of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). Packed with practical assessment and planning sheets, it enables teachers, educators and other professionals to observe and record how children use and understand language, and to follow their progress over time.
The completed assessment record is an accessible summary of a child's individual communication style, identifying strengths and weaknesses and the ways in which he or she is best assisted and motivated to communicate. The assessment record has been devised to allow professionals to record expressive communication, functional use of communication, understanding and social interaction. It focuses on how children express themselves in everyday situations - for example, how they make requests or gain attention, the words they use most frequently, and how their communication is affected by different people and places. It will also help professionals to focus on their own use of language when communicating with person with ASDs. Most importantly, it provides a diagnosis of where communication skills can be developed and improved.
Using the communication curriculum, educators can set appropriate targets, linked to work in other areas, such as literacy and science. A separate thinking skills curriculum aims to develop the skills and confidence necessary for social interaction, from making simple choices to understanding humour and abstract ideas. It also presents guidelines for selecting appropriate targets to work towards and to create a detailed assessment plan. This is aided by a useful summary sheet for tracking progress.
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