Interprofessional education (IPE) is recognized as a critical component in preparing students for effective interprofessional practice in health care. IPE is supported by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and students' competence in interprofessional practice is expected by clinical supervisors for effective work in any…

The importance of effective healthcare communication between healthcare providers and people needing healthcare is well established. People with communication disabilities are at risk of not being able to communicate effectively with their healthcare providers and this might directly compromise their health, healthcare and their right to…

Communication can be difficult for children with conditions such as cerebral palsy because of speech and physical impairments. For this group of children, choice-making is often limited to choices of personal preferences; however, preferences do not reveal intellectual abilities. Therefore, choice-making should be presented to these children in…

Children with autism learn in ways that are unique to their peers without autism. While children with autism may have difficulty with comprehending and using language, exhibiting social skills, attending to instruction, and staying on task, they also have strengths that teachers should take advantage of. Treatment and Education of Autistic and…

This article discusses some specific outcome measures for social communication problems exhibited by school-age children. Measures are discussed relative to (1) a model for viewing abilities essential for social communication and (2) a framework for sampling these abilities across four different contexts. A case example applies these outcome…

This pamphlet maintains that schools must address the needs (typically underserved or unserved in the schools) of students with oral communication disorders. The pamphlet states that such disorders range from language comprehension and/or production deficits to social communication problems, to low-level thinking skills, to hearing problems, to…

The report integrates findings of an international state-of-the-art study of augmentative communication, focusing on the interaction between a person using a communication aid and an able-bodied, natural speaker. Chapter titles and selected subtopics are as follows: (1) "Beyond Symbols and Switches: The Study of Communication Aid Use";…

This article proposes the application of a situated pragmatics (also known as community-based training or activity-based intervention) approach to intervention with children having severe communication disorders. Models for this approach have been developed by the World Health Organization and specialists in alternative and augmentative…

This paper summarizes and illustrates an approach to assessment of communication development and treatment which focuses on the early relationships of preconversational children with their significant adults. The assessment approach is part of the Ecological Communication (ECO) model, which views caregivers of delayed children as critical to the…

Focusing on the preconversational child who has yet to develop a stable or generalized habit of spontaneous conversation, this book presents ECO (Ecological Communication Model), a new intervention model for social and communicative development of developmentally delayed children. The model is based on two perspectives: the literature on the…

A model for assessing the interactive sources of communication development in young children is proposed, focusing on the reciprocal behaviors of both adults and children. The model integrates theoretical and empirical findings and is designed for parallel diagnostic and treatment purposes in five areas: social play, turn taking, nonverbal…

A prototype collaborative communication model was employed in vocational, academic, alternative, and Job Corps classrooms serving students with communication inadequacies. Instruments for evaluation of work-force entry-level communication skills were developed, and support services targeting weaknesses were provided. Results have been positive at…