Direct Interaction for Communication Assessments a Book Together” “Reading What structures the direct interaction? Reading a book while the student talks about and responds to evaluator questions regarding characters and events, pressing for an understanding of non-verbal communication, emotions, intentions and so forth. The activity also provides an opportunity to informally assess other social communication and language skills. Caution: Many individuals with high functioning ASD exhibit relative strength interacting one-on-one with adults. It is essential that the SLP include assessment of social competencies with peers in authentic, naturally occurring contexts. Who is it recommended for? Functional use of speech to Age or approximate meet needs developmental What is needed for this No speech or single Younger school-aged from activity? and some phrases 4 to 8 years (K-3) A developmentally Uses multi-word phrases, Older school-aged to appropriate book that but is not verbally fluent adolescent from 8 to 12 (4-8) is primarily Verbally fluent; uses Teen or adult from with limited or no text. complex sentences 13 to 21 (9-12) This is to ensure that the task presses upon the student’s ability to accurately determine the story, characters, emotions, and motivations based upon non-verbal communication cues and other visual information. A book that may be successfully used for this task is Last Laugh” by Aruego and Dewey. “The The book should focus on a high-interest narrative and include images of characters that may be analyzed to determine the idea” or theme, facial expressions, state-of-mind, “main motivations, and intentions. The images should allow for inferring both obvious and subtle emotions and motivations, first and second order Theory of Mind (e.g., you think the bird “Do knows what the snake is thinking about?”). A quiet, distraction-free setting will be ideal for reviewing the book together.
Direct Interaction for Communication Assessments “Reading a Book Together” What structures the direct interaction? Reading a book while the student talks about and responds to evaluator questions regarding characters and events, pressing for an understanding of non-verbal communication, emotions, intentions and so forth. The activity also provides an opportunity to informally assess other social communication and language skills. Caution: Many individuals with high functioning ASD exhibit relative strength interacting one-on-one with adults. It is essential that the SLP include assessment of social competencies with peers in authentic, naturally occurring contexts. Who is it recommended for? Functional use of speech to meet needs Age or approximate developmental No speech or single and some phrases Younger school-aged from 4 to 8 years (K-3) Uses multi-word phrases, but is not verbally fluent Older school-aged to adolescent from 8 to 12 (4-8) Verbally fluent; uses complex sentences Teen or adult from 13 to 21 (9-12) What is needed for this activity? A developmentally appropriate book that is primarily with limited or no text. This is to ensure that the task presses upon the student’s ability to accurately determine the story, characters, emotions, and motivations based upon non-verbal communication cues and other visual information. A book that may be successfully used for this task is “The Last Laugh” by Aruego and Dewey. The book should focus on a high-interest narrative and include images of characters that may be analyzed to determine the “main idea” or theme, facial expressions, state-of-mind, motivations, and intentions. The images should allow for inferring both obvious and subtle emotions and motivations, first and second order Theory of Mind (e.g., “Do you think the bird knows what the snake is thinking about?”). A quiet, distraction-free setting will be ideal for reviewing the book together.
DIRECT%20BOOK%20reading.docx