Using Nonstandardized Assessments to Evaluate Cognitive-Communication Abilities following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract

The subtle cognitive-communication challenges experienced by students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are often missed, leaving these students with unmet needs in the school environment and increasing the likelihood for negative social, academic, and vocational outcomes. For children and adolescents with TBI, nonstandardized assessment offers several advantages over standardized assessment procedures, and may improve speech-language pathologists' ability to identify students who might benefit from intervention services. This article discusses curriculum-based assessment and discourse analysis specifically and uses case studies to demonstrate how these procedures can be used within the school environment. Nonstandardized assessment procedures are a valuable tool to measure a student's cognitive-communication abilities and the effects of intervention in real-world contexts.