The School Function Assessment: identifying levels of participation and demonstrating progress for pupils with acquired brain injuries in a residential rehabilitation setting

Nonstandardized Assessment of Cognitive-Communication Abilities Following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping Review

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe and synthesize existing research on nonstandardized assessment of cognitive-communication abilities in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to improve the detection, diagnosis, and tracking of injury sequelae and guide appropriate service provision. Materials and Method A search of peer-reviewed journal databases revealed 504 unique articles published between January 2000 and August 2019. For full inclusion, articles had to report on empirical studies examining variables related to the nonstandardized assessment of cognitive-communication skills following TBI in children. Review articles, expert opinion pieces, and non-English language articles were excluded. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews guided this process. Results Results were tabulated for each of the 14 articles that met full inclusion criteria. Included studies presented five different types of nonstandardized assessment: discourse analysis (n = 3), systematic observation of child's performance during an instrumental activity of daily living (n = 4), virtual reality tasks (n = 3), structured cognitive tasks (n = 2), and functional rating scales (n = 2). The majority of included studies compared the outcomes of nonstandardized assessment against subtest scores and checklists drawn from a variety of existing standardized and criterion-referenced assessments. Targeted cognitive-communication skills included attention, working memory, self-regulation, planning, multitasking, social problem-solving, inferencing, and macrolevel discourse. Conclusions Preliminary research suggests that a well-designed and systematically implemented nonstandardized assessment can yield essential information about children's cognitive-communication abilities in real-world contexts. Further research is needed to validate these assessments and to determine in which settings and situations they may prove most effective. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.15079026.

Scoping Review of Judgment-Based Measures of Ambulation with Assistive Devices for Children and Youth

AIM

To identify available judgment-based measures of ambulation with assistive devices for the purpose of examining item content and responses to aid in the expansion of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) Mobility Domain.

METHODS

PubMed and CINAHL databases were used to identify measures meeting the following criteria: 1) applicable for children/youth; 2) self-report, proxy-report, or interview administration; and 3) assistive device (walker, cane, crutches, gait trainer) use specified or considered with responses. Population, administration, respondent(s), items, and responses were compiled. Item content was categorized and response scales grouped by type.

RESULTS

Fifteen measures met inclusion criteria. Measures included child and proxy-report. Item categories included Surfaces, Steps/Stairs, Dual Tasks, Negotiation of Environment, Distance, and Time. Only two measures distinguished between device type within items. One measure specified gait trainers. "Difficulty" and "Assistance" were the most frequently used response scales.

CONCLUSIONS

Available measures have content examining device use; however, none of the measures are comprehensive, devices are not consistently specified, and responses are imprecise. Items with well-defined responses for measuring a child's ambulation with an assistive device are needed for clinical practice, research, and program evaluation.