Use this best-selling profile to evaluate communication skills in individuals with developmental (including autism spectrum disorders) and acquired delays across a wide age range.
The FCP-R lets you account for some of the unique aspects of communication and the diversity among individuals with developmental and acquired delays. It addresses all communication possibilities and is not limited to oral language expression. Test items help fulfill the standards in state and federal regulations in the United States.
The FCP-R yields an overall inventory of the individual's communication abilities, mode of communication (e.g., verbal, sign, nonverbal, augmentative), and degree of independence. Clients are assessed and rated in the major skills categories of communication through direct observation, teacher and caregiver reports and one on one testing. The FCP-R is appropriate for individuals who range between mild and profound deficits.
- Sensory/Motor—auditory, visual, gross-motor, and fine-motor skills and behavior
- Attentiveness—attention span, alertness, response levels, cooperation, and level of awareness
- Receptive Language—comprehension of verbal and nonverbal language and basic concepts, interest in pictures and objects, following commands, and object and two-dimensional recognition
- Expressive Language—verbal and nonverbal communication, manner and modality of communication, quality of self-expression, object use and interactions, cause and effect, vocabulary, grammar, and phrase length
- Pragmatic/Social Language—communicative intent; questioning skills; conversational skills; turn-taking; topic initiation, maintenance, and elaboration; appropriateness of communication; reading/literacy; writing/spelling; and memory
- Speech—intelligibility of sounds produced, dentition, and oral-motor imitation
- Voice—loudness, vocal quality, and pitch
- Oral—mouth breathing, drooling, tongue thrust, and swallowing/diet
- Fluency—fluency, rate of speech, and rhythm and intonation
- Non-Oral Communication—use of sign language, two-dimensional expression, yes/no, fine-motor abilities, and effectiveness of current augmentative or alternative communication system
The FCP-R is designed for use by a speech-language pathologist, a graduate of a speech-language assistant program, a special education teacher or classroom specialist, or a graduate student in communicative disorders.
- The examiner rates the client's performance for each evaluation item, even if the skill is scored as "none, n/a, unable" etc.
- The examiner provides age-appropriate stimulus materials and environmental items which are familiar to the individual to be evaluated. Suggested materials include common objects used for activities of daily living (e.g., eating utensils, grooming items, furnishings), photos, noisemakers, colored blocks, and picture communication symbols.
- It is useful to be able to present some form of low technology adaptive equipment such as adaptive switches, communication books, and hand held electronic devices.
- Every test item is defined in detail and in lay terms in the examiner's manual for easy report-writing and communication.
- The examiner records the level of prompting/assistance provided (levels of client prompting are listed on the test form).
- Varies, usually 45 minutes to 1½ hours
- The examiner subjectively inventories the individual's response to test items and rates the impairment level for each of the eleven subtests/skills categories.
- The client's rating is based on various parameters including severity of impairment, frequency of occurrence, mode of communication, degree of independence vs. assistance, quality of performance, and inventory of skills.
- Guidelines for response ratings are referenced in the examiner's manual.
- Based on the assessment results, general guidelines are given for estimation of the client's severity level.
This well-respected test is a criterion referenced, not a norm-referenced instrument. Criterion-referenced tests compare the subject's mastery of the specified behaviors to the specified behaviors. Such tests are designed to provide information for instruction, not to compare students with each other.
Copyright © 2003
- Multiple professionals will be involved with individuals with developmental delays. A multidisciplinary model of service delivery encourages use of functional goals in a natural setting as much as possible (ASHA, 2005). Functional Communication Profile Revised allows the speech-language pathologist (SLP) to share various levels of communication skills with the team.
- Under Medicare guidelines, SLPs must provide appropriate documentation for medical necessity for speech-language therapy, including diagnosis and specific functional communication abilities, whether that be verbal, gesture, or use of an augmentative alternative communication device (ASHA, 2004).
- Individuals with autism spectrum disorders range in mental abilities from low level to high level. They also have impairments in pragmatics and overall communication. During an assessment, the clinician must take into account various communication modalities, both verbal and nonverbal, along with pragmatic abilities in order to produce individualized communication goals (Landa, 2007).
- ASHA (2005) reports assessments for individuals with developmental delays may occur in the home, school, work, or community. As an individual with mental retardation ages, the context of assessment may no longer be diagnosis, but rather, ways in which functional goals for communication can be implemented throughout a variety of contexts.
- Verbal, gestural, or physical prompts are often used in both assessment and intervention for enhanced knowledge of whether the individual has the capability of using a desired communication skill when given support. Prompts are used systematically and should be faded as soon as possible (Bondy, 1996).
- Dysphagia within the developmentally delayed population is common and often persistent into adulthood. Evaluation of dysphagia into the adult years is particularly important as some individuals show a progressive nature of the disorder which may negatively affect their ability to safely take in an oral diet (ASHA, 2001).
Functional Communication Profile Revised incorporates these principles and is also based on expert professional practice.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2001). Roles of speech-language pathologists in swallowing and feeding disorders [Technical Report]. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from www.asha.org/docs/pdf/TR2001-00150.pdf
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2004). Medical necessity for speech-language pathology and audiology services. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from www.asha.org/NR/rdonlyres/BB9B17C3-7284-4184-9B80-55A9ACBEF045/0/mednecfifinal3.pdf
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). (2005). Roles and responsibilities of speech-language pathologists serving persons with mental retardation/developmental disabilities [Guidelines]. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from www.asha.org/docs/pdf/GL2005-00061.pdf
Bondy, A.S. (1996). The pyramid approach to education. Newark, DE: Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc.
Landa, R. (2007). Early communication development and intervention for children with autism. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 13, 16-25.