Assessment of preverbal communicative abilities in students with severe intellectual disability

Concern is often expressed by teachers, that students with severe intellectual disability may learn to sign or point to a pictorial representation, yet fail to use such systems in a communicative manner. This paper explores the literature in the area of preverbal behaviours and suggests a continuum whereby importance is placed on first establishing in the student a desire to communicate and training behaviours to express intentionality. Interviews with caregivers and school personnel, and the observation of a student's existing behaviours and the functions achieved by those behaviours provides the basis for assessment procedures. Implications for programming and instruction are noted and discussed.