In assessing students' spoken communication competencies, it can be helpful for therapists to learn each individual’s perspectives and preferences regarding communication and intervention. These assessments can be gathered through interviews and questionnaires.

Assessment Through Inquiry

Important information and insights are often revealed as students describe their personal history and critical prior experiences in an interview context. What students reveal in an interview can complement other assessments, set a stage for goal setting and help shape the therapy process.

These video clips illustrate an interview approach for learning critical elements of a student’s personal history.

In an interview, students may describe their past use of speech and previous instruction. This information can be helpful in establishing current learning goals. These video clips include student revelation of previous learning goals.

In the course of an interview, the therapist has the opportunity to describe therapy approaches that could be implemented and get the student’s reaction to them.

As learning goals are being considered, information gleaned from interviews can help the therapist and the student work toward the selection of appropriate goals that mean the most to the student. Students may also indicate their awareness of life-long goals that exceed the span of the current therapy. Interviews may reveal the potential applications the student sees for those goals.

These video clips reveal one student's experiences and perspectives that the therapist later viewed to be critical to therapy planning and assessment.

Assessment Through Questionnaire

Students can self-rate their confidence and their success communicating in different languages/modalities, in different situations, and with different individuals.

Positive outcomes of therapy may include:

• Greater success using spoken English with non-signing individuals
• Greater confidence using spoken English with strangers or in previously avoided or feared situations
• Greater use of spoken English in specific contexts (i.e., one-on-one, in groups, in public, in class, with friends, with family, etc.)

Here are some sample forms used to assess pre and post therapy perceptions:

Pre-Outcome (pdf)

Post-Outcome (pdf)