Abstract:

Many children with severe disabilities are having difficulties in communication. These difficulties limit their social interaction and communication with their peers and other people. Some of these children may develop inappropriate and unacceptable forms of communication to interact with people. Performing a comprehensive assessment and choosing an effective intervention are extremely important to prevent these children from developing inappropriate communication behaviors and teach them more functional and acceptable communication skills. This study provides information regarding how to perform a comprehensive assessment and introduce the communication matrix, which is an online assessment tool used to get further information of a child’s communication skills. Sample assessment results of a 13-year-old, seven grades, female student with communication difficulties is provided and sample objectives are developed based on student’s assessment results. In addition, evidence-based practices and the importance of their use for children with communication difficulties are explained.

Keywords: