A Social Partnership Model for Assessing Early Communication Development

Abstract

Recent mandates for early intervention with infants and young children at risk require that speech-language pathologists have available to them clinical tools that address not only the critical interactive processes of communication development, but also the vital roles that adults play in a child’s development. Assessment of early preverbal and verbal communication must reflect the dimensions of both the child’s and adult’s behavior during the initial processes of interaction development. A new model for assessing the interactive sources of communication development is proposed, which focuses on the reciprocal behaviors of both adults and children as communication evolves from natural play, learning, and caregiving. The assessment model proposed integrates theoretical and empirical findings from a wide range of studies of the development of first relationships and is designed for parallel diagnostic and treatment purposes. The article provides rationale and illustrations of the five developmental stages the model addresses: social play, turn taking, nonverbal communication, language, and conversation.