Published by

Ace Centre, Hollinwood Business Centre, Albert Street, Oldham OL8 3QL

Tel 0800 080 3115

enquiries@[Link]
[Link]

Registered Charity No. 1089313

Adapted by
Suzanne Martin, Katherine Small and Rachel Stevens

Acknowledgements
The original Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children was
written by Hazel Dewart and Susie Summers. This revised version has been created
with the permission of NFER-Nelson.

We would like to thank the families and therapists who took the time to give
feedback on this resource.

Any enquiries regarding the use and re-use of this resource should be sent to
enquiries@[Link].

[Link] Page 2 of 47
Foreword
The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children, originally
developed in 1988 by Hazel Dewart and Susie Summers, has been used extensively by
Speech and Language Therapists for many years.

At Ace Centre, we support children and adults who use Augmentative and Alternative
Communication (AAC). We used The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication
Skills in Children with people who use AAC for many years, adapting it in an ad hoc way.

Delivering any interview relies on considerable expertise in juggling the dynamics of

questioning, recording and responding to answers. At times, we found it challenging to
not only deliver the interview but also to change the wording of questions and
examples ‘in the moment’!

We developed The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC to enable us to move
beyond ‘in the moment’ changes. We have systematically adapted the resource to
make it more AAC friendly and relevant.

The Profile is free to download.

We offer regular training opportunities to enable you to learn more about the resource
and how to administer it. Visit the Ace Centre Learning area of our website to see
upcoming courses (or be taken there directly by clicking here:
[Link] Alternatively, scan
this QR code:

New training courses and dates are added all the time. If you join our newsletter mailing
list, we’ll send you a monthly update which highlights new courses as they are added,
alongside a wealth of other interesting information. You can sign up on our website or
click here to join directly: [Link]
people-use-aac?newsletter=pragprofiles. Alternatively, scan this QR code:

[Link] Page 3 of 47
About the Profile
The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC is based upon The Pragmatics
Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children by Hazel Dewart and Susie
Summers.

An Overview of The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in

Children

The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children was originally

developed in 1988 by Hazel Dewart and Susie Summers. It was initially intended for
use with pre-school aged children. However, it was extended for use with children up
to the age of 10 years when a revised edition was published in 1995. The Pragmatics
Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Adults was published in 1996 to provide
a way of exploring communication at stages in the lifespan from adolescent to
elderly person.

Dewart and Summers (1995) identified the need for an approach that explored
everyday communication skills in children. The traditional approaches, such as
standardised assessment and testing children within clinical settings, were felt to be
limiting the understanding of how children communicate in a range of
environments with a variety of communication partners. The development of the
Profile was intended to provide practitioners with a means of collecting information
about a child’s communication skills outside the clinical setting and focused more
on their communication abilities within everyday life.

The Profile was based on the pragmatic approach to understanding language

which emphasises how communication is achieved, how language is used to
communicate a variety of intentions, the related needs of the listener, and how
children participate in conversation and discourse (Bates 1976, cited in Dewart and
Summers 1995).

Dewart and Summers (1995) based the format of The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday
Communication Skills in Children on a parental interview schedule originally
developed by Kay Mogford (1973, cited in Dewart and Summers 1995). The style of the
schedule is structured but is intended to be delivered informally through discussion
with parents / carers. It uses open ended questions which allows more
opportunities for interviewees to contribute their knowledge about the child’s
communication.

Dewart and Summers (1995) are clear in their manual about the reliability and
validity of their Profile. They assert that the Profile adopts a descriptive, qualitative
approach and is not a measure. The validity of the Profile rests in the research base
relating to pragmatics rather than in any correlations with scores on other
assessments or developmental scales.

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The development of The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC

Dewart and Summers (1995) suggested that The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday
Communication Skills in Children could be used with a wide range of children,
including those with physical difficulties and non-verbal children. Dewart and
Summers (1995:19) offer suggestions on how to use the Profile with particular client
groups and advise that, “when interviewing parents or carers of children who are
predominantly non-verbal, questions that mention ‘talking’ or ‘conversation’ can be
reworded to refer to ‘interaction”’.

At Ace Centre, we used The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills

in Children with people who use AAC for many years, making such adaptations in an
ad hoc way. We realised that there was a need to both formalise these
adaptations and approach the whole adaptation process in a more systematic
way. The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC was the result.

Each question was systematically appraised for its relevance and appropriateness to
people who use AAC and modifications were made where necessary. Significant
changes were made to the prompt examples provided to ensure relevance. The
order of the questions was modified and four additional sections were created:
Establishing context and motivation, Reasons to communicate and reactions to
communication, Contextual variation, and Participation in conversation.

The aim was to make a resource that was easy to administer and would allow
clinicians to collect information about a person who uses AAC’s reasons to
communicate and their ability to participate in interactions. We sought to enable
clinicians to describe a person who uses AAC’s functional communication skills
rather than relying solely on a linguistic model of description such as ‘client is at a 3-
word level’. We hope this will enable clinicians to clearly define which skills need
developing and in turn contribute to better quality targets for people who use AAC.

The Profile can be used with people who have used AAC in the past, people who are
currently using AAC whether informal or formal, and / or with people who are ready
to move from informal modes of AAC to more formal methods.

The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC is not designed to be a general
communication or pragmatic assessment. Other resources, such as The Pragmatics
Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children (Dewart and Summers 1995),
The Early Communication Assessment (Coupe-O’Kane and Goldbart 1998), Affective
Communication Assessment (Coupe-O’Kane and Goldbart 1998) and The
Manchester Pragmatics Profile (Coupe-O’Kane and Goldbart 1998), can be used to
gather information not specifically relating to AAC.

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Administering the Profile
Dewart and Summers (1995) provide detailed guidance on how to administer the
original Profile. For those who are new to carrying out the Profiles, we recommend
reading their full guidance beforehand.

The Interview

It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with full Profile before beginning the
interview. An awareness of the questions will help you to listen out for the key
points, and foreknowledge of what sections are coming up later will help you to
structure the session to get a broad picture of the person’s abilities.

The Profile can either be printed out for the interviewer to write down the answers or
filled in electronically. If done electronically, the spaces after each question expand
automatically if required.

The Profile is to be conducted as an interview and should not be handed out to

parents / carers to be completed independently. Aim to keep the interview light and
informal.

The section headings are there for guidance only and should not be read aloud by
the interviewer. Instead, simply ask each of the questions (which are in blue font).
The interviewer should use the person’s name where you see [name] in the
question.

The examples given within questions can be changed and adapted as required.
Clients vary so much in terms of physical abilities, age, experiences, etc., that this is likely
to be necessary. You could use the information about an individual’s likes, dislikes, key
people and places from Part A of the Profile to help you make the questions more
personal and relevant.

Interviewees should be encouraged to describe the person’s typical behaviours in

their own words, giving as much descriptive detail as possible. For example,
describing what a certain gesture looks like rather than just answering ‘gesture’, and
going on to explain whether the gesture is universally understood or understood by
certain people only. Try to be curious in your approach to information gathering.

Interviewers should only make use of the list of prompts if the interviewee has
difficulty thinking of a response to the question. Any prompts given should be
personalised. The list of prompts should not be read out as a script or checklist.

We have found that the prompts can be of use when you wish to explore an
interviewee’s response in more detail, and / or where you wish to expand on
information you have been given. Clinicians should use their clinical judgement on

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when it is appropriate to probe a response in more detail. For example, where an
interviewee’s responses describe an individual as mostly using vocalisations for
many things, a clinician could seek more detail about these vocalisations – in terms
of pitch, tone, context, how do the vocalisations differ from each other, who
understands them, etc.

The Profile does not have to be completed in one session and not all questions will
be relevant to every client. Interviewers should use their discretion and either omit or
change the order of questions as required. It is likely that, when answering one
question, interviewees will give information that also answers one or more other
questions – this is fine. Where possible keep the flow of the interview informal and, if
necessary, slot the answers into the correct sections after the interview has finished.

When piloting the Profile, we found that the length of delivery varied from one to
three hours depending upon the amount of detail provided by respondents. It may
be useful to repeat the Profile with more than one person as this can reveal
differences that occur between communication partners and / or environments; for
example, a child might use one method at home with a parent / carer and a different
method at school with a teacher.

The Profile can be re-administered at intervals to evaluate progress.

Summarising and analysing the answers given

Two tools are provided to assist with summarising and analysing the information
provided in the interview:

1. The Contents page at the start of the Profile acts as a Summary sheet that
should be completed following the interview.

2. The Methods of Communication Chart at the end of the Profile.

It is recommended that you reflect on the information provided during the

interview and complete the Contents page / Summary sheet, identifying whether
the individual ‘Does this’, ‘May do this’, or ‘Does not do this’. Like the original
Pragmatics Profile, The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC adopts a
descriptive, qualitative approach so the decision about this rating is based on your
clinical judgment of the information provided in the interview.

A ‘Not applicable’ column is included to identify that the pragmatic function is not
expected to have developed given the child’s chronological age. Information about
the typical development of pragmatic functions can be found in Chapter 2 of The
Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Children (Dewart and
Summers, 1995).

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The ‘May do this’ column can be used in a variety of situations. For example, it can
be used where an individual’s use of the pragmatic function is not consistent across
all environments and communication partners, or where an individual relies on a
prompt or scaffold to use the pragmatic function. ‘May do this’ can also be selected
if the client has a way of communicating a pragmatic function but their
communication could be improved by using an alternative method. An example of
this could be where an individual self-injures to reject an action or event. In this
instance, we would mark the ‘May do this’ column, but also mark the ‘Potential
target’ column.

The ‘Potential target’ column is a way of summarising all the areas that you may
want to develop further. Marking this column will generate a list of potential targets
that can then be discussed with the person who uses AAC and / or their team to
identify which targets are a priority for them to achieve their goals.

The Methods of Communication Chart at the end of the Profile can be completed to
help you further analyse the modes used by an individual to assist in the
identification of appropriate targets. Information collated using the Methods of
Communication Chart can also be used to inform carers or unfamiliar listeners
about an individual’s preferred way of communicating. This information could be
used to develop training for new carers, or to convey important information in a
Communication Passport.

The Pragmatics Profile for People who use AAC provides an opportunity to explore
the requirements placed on a person’s communication system in different
environments with different communication partners. This will help assist teams in
deciding which of the potential targets is most appropriate to a situation; for
example, an informal mode when communicating with a familiar listener whilst in
the bath, versus the use of an electronic communication aid with an unfamiliar
listener to reject an unwanted event or action.

The information about potential targets could also be used to identify what future
skills a person using AAC may require. Through administering the Profile, you may
have identified that an individual’s communication requirements are being met in
their current environment, but you know they are about to transition to a new
environment where their current modes may be less effective, or where they will
have the opportunity to communicate with a wider range of communication
partners. Identifying potential targets through the Profile, alongside the analysis of
responses through the Methods of Communication Chart, will help you to identify
which skills may need to be developed in preparation for such changes.

You are ready to go!

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Information Record Sheet

About the client

Name:

Date of birth:

Person interviewed (1)

Name:

Relationship to client:

Date of 1st interview:

Name of interviewer:

Date of 2nd interview:

Name of interviewer:

Person interviewed (2)

Name:

Relationship to client:

Date of 1st interview:

Name of interviewer:

Date of 2nd interview:

Name of interviewer:

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 Contents Page and Summary Sheet
Part A: Establishing context and motivation
1 Context and motivation
1.1 Likes
1.2 Dislikes
1.3 Key people
1.4 Key places

Part B: Reasons to communicate and reactions to communication

Does not do this

Potential target
Not applicable
May do this
Does this
2 Gaining attention for communication
2.1 Interest in interaction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2.2 Gaining an individual’s attention ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2.3 Understanding of gesture ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2.4 Gaining attention to prepare for an interaction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

3 Attention directing
3.1 Drawing attention to self ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3.2 Drawing attention to an event or action ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3.3 Drawing attention to an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3.4 Drawing attention to other people ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

4 Requesting
4.1 Requesting a person ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.2 Requesting recurrence ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.3 Requesting cessation ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.4 Requesting assistance ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.5 Requesting an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.6 Responding to a direct request for action ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.7 Requesting an event or action ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.8 Requesting information ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.9 Responding to a request for information ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.10 Requesting confirmation of information ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.11 Understanding indirect requests ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

5 Rejecting
5.1 Rejecting a person ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.2 Rejecting an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.3 Rejecting an event, action or task ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.4 Rejecting assistance ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.5 Protesting ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.6 Responding to ‘no’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.7 Negotiating ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.8 Responding to negotiation ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

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 Does not do this

Potential target
Not applicable
May do this
Does this
6 Naming
6.1 Naming an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
6.2 Naming an action or event ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

7 Commenting
7.1 Commenting on the non-existence of objects, people or events ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
7.2 Commenting on the existence of objects, people or events ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
7.3 Commenting on an attribute in the immediate context ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

8 Giving information
8.1 Giving information about self ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
8.2 Giving information about other people or events ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
8.3 Giving information to direct other people or actions ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

9 Asking questions
9.1 Asking questions using ‘who?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.2 Asking questions using ‘what?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.3 Asking questions using ‘where?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.4 Asking questions using ‘when?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.5 Asking questions using ‘why?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.6 Asking questions using ‘how?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Part C: Contextual variation

10 Contextual variation
10.1 People
10.2 Places
10.3 Time
10.4 Topic

Part D: Participation in conversation

11 Strategies used
11.1 Conversational breakdown ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.2 Signalling communication breakdown ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.3 Repairing communication breakdown ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.4 Requesting clarification ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.5 Maintaining an interaction over more than two turns ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.6 Giving feedback to a communication partner when listening ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.7 Giving feedback to a comm. partner when formulating a message ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.8 Changing the topic ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.9 Joining a conversation ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.10 Terminating an interaction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

12 Using social etiquette

12.1 Using social greetings and partings ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
12.2 Complying with social conventions ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
12.3 Telling jokes ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
12.4 Understanding jokes ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

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Part A: Establishing context and motivation
1 Context and motivation
1.1 Likes
a. What does [name] like / like to do?

b. How does [name] show that they like or are enjoying something?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement, gesture or facial expression associated with pleasure, e.g. smiles, laughs,
etc.
 Use body movement, gesture or facial expression interpreted to mean ‘more’, ‘again’, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to request things, e.g., ‘more’, ‘again’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to request things, e.g., ‘more’, ‘again’, etc.
 Vocalise to comment, e.g., ‘fun’, ‘like’, etc., or approximations of these
 Use signing or aided AAC to comment, e.g., ‘fun’, ‘like’, etc.
 Other? Describe

1.2 Dislikes
a. What does [name] dislike / not like to do?

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 b. How does [name] show that they dislike or are not enjoying something?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use facial expression, body movement or gesture associated with displeasure or upset, e.g.,
frowning, crying, etc.
 Use facial expression, body movement or gesture interpreted to mean ‘stop’, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to initiate an interaction, e.g., ‘help’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to initiate an interaction, e.g., ‘help’, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to tell you what is wrong, e.g., ‘headache’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to tell you what is wrong, e.g. ‘headache’
 Other? Describe

1.3 Key people

Who are the important people in [name]’s life?

1.4 Key places

In a typical week / month, where do they spend their time? List all that apply.

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Part B: Reasons to communicate and reactions to communication

2 Gaining attention for communication

2.1 Interest in interaction
If you sit down close to [name] and look towards them, how do they
generally respond?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Turn to look at you and / or make eye contact
 Reach out to touch you or lean on you
 Smile
 Wait for you to say something
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to show they are interested
 Use signing to show they are interested
 Use aided AAC to show they are interested
 Other? Describe

2.2 Gaining an individual’s attention

If you want to get [name]’s attention, how do you do it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Say their name
 Touch them
 Make eye contact
 Wave
 Share an understood gesture
 Sign
 Other? Describe

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 2.3 Understanding of gesture
If you point to something you want [name] to look at, what do they usually
do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Look at you rather than at where you are pointing
 Look at it if it is close by
 Look at it, even if it is quite far away
 Other? Describe

2.4 Gaining attention to prepare for an interaction

How does [name] let you know they have something to say / something to
communicate?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Move their body (reaching or other)
 Look at you
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing e.g. to say ‘more to say’, ‘I want to tell you something’, ‘get my communication
book’, etc.
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘more to say’, ‘I want to tell you something’, ‘get my communication
book’, etc.
 Other? Describe

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 3 Attention directing
3.1 Drawing attention to self
How does [name] usually get your attention?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Gesture or body movement e.g. reaching, etc.
 Look at you
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘hi’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘hi’
 Other? Describe

3.2 Drawing attention to an event or action

If you and [name] were out somewhere and they saw something interesting /
unexpected (e.g. a helicopter hovering overhead or a fire alarm going off),
what would they be likely to do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Look at the thing of interest
 Move a part of their body, e.g. move an arm or other body part as if to point at it
 Look at the thing and then look back at you
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘look’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘look’
 Other? Describe

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 3.3 Drawing attention to an object
If [name] saw an object they found interesting (e.g. a football shirt), what
would they be likely to do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Look at the thing of interest
 Move a part of their body, e.g. move an arm or other body part as if to point at it
 Look at the thing and then look back at you
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘look’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘look’
 Other? Describe

3.4 Drawing attention to other people

If you and [name] were out somewhere and they saw someone they wanted
to draw your attention to, what would they be likely to do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Look at the thing of interest
 Move a part of their body, e.g. move an arm or other body part as if to point at it
 Look at the thing and then look back at you
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘look’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘look’
 Other? Describe

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 4 Requesting
4.1 Requesting a person
If [name] wanted to call someone over to them, what would they do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Look at the person
 Move a part of their body, e.g. move arm or other body part as if to beckon them over
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Sign, e.g. to say ‘come here’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘come here’
 Other? Describe

4.2 Requesting recurrence

If you were listening to music with [name] and they wanted you to play the
song again, how would they let you know?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture to show pleasure
 Smile
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word), e.g. pleading sounds to request ‘more’, saying
‘more’, etc.
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘more’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘again’
 Other? Describe

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 4.3 Requesting cessation
If [name] wanted you to stop doing something or wanted to finish an activity,
what would they do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture
 Look at you with facial expression that is interpreted as ‘no’
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘no’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘stop’
 Other? Describe

4.4 Requesting assistance

If [name] needs help with something (e.g. to unfasten a lap belt or unwrap an
item of food), what do they do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture
 Look at you with facial expression that is interpreted as ‘help’
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word), e.g. making pleading noises, saying ‘help’, etc.
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘help’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘hep’
 Other? Describe

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 4.5 Requesting an object
If [name] wants an object (e.g. a favourite toy or blanket), what do they do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture, e.g. reach or use a body part to point at it
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word), e.g. making pleading noises
 Look at the object and at you to say ‘get that’
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘help’, ‘want’, ‘get’, etc.
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘help’, ‘want’, ‘get’, etc.
 Other? Describe

4.6 Responding to a direct request for action

If you give [name] an instruction (e.g. ‘move your arm [or another body part]’
or ‘choose which book you want’), how do they respond?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Look at you, but don’t seem to know what to do
 Do the action as part of a regular routine, but not if you’ve never asked them to do it before
 Carry out your request
 Other? Describe

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 4.7 Requesting an action or event
If [name] wants you to do something (e.g. pick them up, invite a friend, read
to them), how do they make the request?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture
 Look at you
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Sign or use aided AAC to make a direct request, e.g. to say ‘up’, ‘carry’, ‘help’, ‘read’
 Sign or use aided AAC to make an indirect request, e.g. ‘I’m uncomfortable’ as a means of
requesting repositioning
 Other? Describe

4.8 Requesting information

If [name] notices something new (e.g. in the home), or wants to know more
about something, how do they ask about it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture
 Look at the object or event
 Use a body movement or gesture as if to point at the object, and look at you
 Vocalise with questioning intonation (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘what?’ or ‘when?’
 Use aided AAC
 Other? Describe

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 4.9 Responding to a request for information
If you ask [name] for information (e.g. ‘what have you been doing?’), how are
they likely to respond?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Point or gesture
 Show you something
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word), e.g. ‘eat’
 Use signing or aided AAC to tell you with single words, e.g. ‘park’
 Use signing or aided AAC to give you more detailed information, e.g. ‘did painting’, ‘don’t know’
 Other? Describe

4.10 Requesting confirmation of information

If [name] wants to check information they’ve already been given, how do
they do this? (e.g. when they’ve been told their Mum has gone to work, how
would they check this?)
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with questioning intonation
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘Mum’ or ‘Mum work’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘Mum’ or ‘Mum work’
 Other? Describe

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 4.11 Understanding indirect requests
If you say something that implies that you want [name] to do something (e.g.
you say, ‘you’re not going to fit through there’ when they are approaching a
door frame and their arms are out, meaning you would like them to bring
their arms in), how do they react?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Take you literally and reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but don’t react as you were intending
 Take you literally in a joking way
 Understand what you have asked and respond appropriately
 Other? Describe

5 Rejecting
5.1 Rejecting a person
If [name] doesn’t want someone to interact with them, how do they show
this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Turn away from person
 Use a body movement or gesture
 Close their eyes
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘go away’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘go away’
 Other? Describe

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 5.2 Rejecting an object
If [name] doesn’t want something that you are offering to them, how do they
tell you they don’t want it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Turn their face away
 Use a body movement or gesture to communicate ‘no’
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t like’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t like’
 Other? Describe

5.3 Rejecting an event, action or task

If [name] doesn’t want to do something that you are offering to them (e.g.
brush hair, go home etc.), how do they tell you that they don’t want to do it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Turn their face away / unhappy facial expression
 Use a body movement or gesture to communicate ‘no’
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t like’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t like’
 Other? Describe

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 5.4 Rejecting assistance
If you are trying to help [name] do something (e.g. to unwrap a present, turn
the page of a book) and they don’t want your help, how do they let you
know?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Turn their face away / unhappy facial expression
 Use a body movement or gesture to communicate ‘no’
 Cry (as you try to help)
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t’, ‘I’ll do it’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t’, ‘I’ll do it’
 Other? Describe

5.5 Protesting
If [name] doesn’t want something to happen that has to happen (e.g. taking
medication, change of staff, etc.), how do they tell you?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use a body movement or gesture to communicate ‘no’
 Turn their face away / unhappy facial expression
 Cry as it happens
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t want’
 Use aided AAC, e.g. to say ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t want’
 Other? Describe
 There would be no response - they would let it happen

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 5.6 Responding to ‘no’
If you have to say ‘no’ to [name], how do they usually respond?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Accept it
 Become upset / annoyed
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘again’
 Use signing or aided AAC resource to make an alternative proposal, e.g. ‘Just one!’, ‘Tomorrow
then?’, etc.
 Other? Describe

5.7 Negotiation
If a peer is not going along with what [name] wants them to do, how does
[name] respond?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Give up
 Use a body movement or gesture e.g. touch, push, hit
 Cry
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word)
 Use signing or aided AAC to argue with their peer
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask someone to help resolve it
 Use signing or aided AAC to negotiate with their peer, e.g. if…… then……..
 Other? Describe

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 5.8 Responding to negotiation
If you have to say, ‘in a minute’ (or similar), how does [name] respond?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Don’t understand and keep asking
 Become upset / annoyed about it
 Wait then ask again after an interval
 Other? Describe

6 Naming
6.1 Naming an object
When [name] sees something they know the name of, [e.g. a train], how do
they say its name?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture to represent the object
 Vocalise a word, word approximation or sound associated with the object, e.g. ‘Choo Choo’ for
‘train’, an associated word like ‘Thomas’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to say name of the object
 Use signing or aided AAC to say name of the object within a phrase, e.g. ‘it’s …’ or ‘There is …’
 Other? Describe

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 6.2 Naming an action or event
When [name] talks about something they like to do (e.g. trampolining), how
do they give it a name?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture to represent the action or event, e.g. bouncing action to
represent trampolining
 Vocalise a word, word approximation or sound associated with the action or event, e.g. ‘jump’,
‘boing!’
 Use signing or aided AAC to say the name of the action or event, e.g. ‘jump’, ‘trampoline’
 Use signing or aided AAC to say to say name of the action or event within a phrase, e.g. ‘I go
trampolining’
 Other? Describe

7 Commenting
7.1 Commenting on the non-existence of objects, people, or events
If [name] notices that something or someone has gone from where they were
expecting it to be, how would they comment on this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture to name the object or make a comment, e.g. gesture 'where?'
 Look at place where it should be and use facial expression as if to ask 'where?'
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to name the object or make a comment, e.g.
'gone'
 Use signing or aided AAC to name the object or make a single word comment, e.g. ‘where?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to name the object or make a comment using a phrase, e.g. 'where
my book?'
 Other? Describe

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 7.2 Commenting on the existence of objects, people, or events
If you are putting things away and [name] sees something that they are
interested in, what would they do?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture as if to point at it (but not as a request) or to say ‘mine’ or to
comment on it, e.g. gesture to mean ‘broken’ or ‘dirty’ etc.
 Look at it, showing an interested facial expression
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to comment on the item, e.g. ‘mine’, ‘broken’ or
‘dirty’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to make a single word comment, e.g. ‘mine’
 Use signing or aided AAC to make a comment using a phrase, e.g. ‘my blue car’
 Other? Describe

7.3 Commenting on an attribute in the immediate context

If [name] enters a new place that looks or feels different, how do they
describe what they think about it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture to comment, e.g. gesturing ‘big’
 Look around / at it and uses facial expression
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to comment, e.g. ‘wow’
 Use signing or aided AAC to make a single word comment, e.g. ‘dark’
 Use signing or aided AAC to make a comment using a phrase, e.g. ‘it very dark’
 Other? Describe

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 8 Giving information
8.1 Giving information about self
If [name] wants to give you information about themselves (e.g. their name,
that they have just been swimming, that they have a pain), how do they tell
you?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture representing the information e.g. pointing to their wet hair
 Vocalise, using sound associated with the information they are giving, word approximation or
word, e.g. 'ow' for a pain, attempts name, etc.
 Use signing to say a word e.g. signing initial letter of name,
 Use aided AAC to say a word, e.g. ‘pain’
 Use signing or aided AAC to say a phrase, e.g. 'I went swimming'
 Other? Describe

8.2 Giving information about other people or events

If something happened while you weren’t around, (e.g. something was
broken, someone fell over, someone came to visit, etc.) how would [name]
let you know about this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture representing the information, e.g. point to place where it
happened
 Vocalise, using sound associated with the information they are giving, word approximation or
word, e.g. 'oops' to say it broke, attempt to name person, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to say a word, e.g. name of a person
 Use signing or aided AAC to say a phrase, e.g. 'He fell down'
 Other? Describe

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 8.3 Giving information to direct other people or actions
If [name] is trying to instruct someone how to do something, (e.g. fasten
their lap belt, get a peer to stand up, etc.), how do they go about it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture to demonstrate
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) to direct you
 Use signing or aided AAC to direct you using a single word, e.g. ‘push’
 Use signing or aided AAC to say a phrase, e.g. ‘push that up’
 Other? Describe

9 Asking questions
9.1 Asking questions using ‘who’
If [name] wants to know who you are talking to on the phone or who is at the
door, how do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture e.g. reaching towards the person (if they are present)
 Use questioning / confused facial expression and look at you (or at the person if they are
present)
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with questioning intonation, e.g. ‘oo?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘who?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask using a phrase, e.g. ‘who is it?’
 Other? Describe

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 9.2 Asking questions using ‘what’
If [name] wants to know what something is, how do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture e.g. pointing at the object
 Use questioning / confused facial expression and looking at the object
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with questioning intonation, e.g. ‘huh?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘what?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask using a phrase, e.g. ‘what is it?’
 Other? Describe

9.3 Asking questions using ‘where’

If [name] wants to know where you are going, how do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture, e.g. points
 Use questioning / confused facial expression
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with questioning intonation, e.g. ‘ere go?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘where?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask using a phrase e.g. ‘where you go?’
 Other? Describe

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 9.4 Asking questions using ‘when’
If [name] wants to know when something is happening, how do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture e.g. points to wrist / watch / clock
 Use questioning / confused facial expression and looking at a clock
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with questioning intonation, e.g. ‘now?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘when?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask using a phrase, e.g. ‘when are we…?’
 Other? Describe

9.5 Asking questions using ‘why’

If [name] wants to know why something is happening (e.g. why you’re
leaving), how do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture
 Use questioning / confused facial expression and looks at what is happening (such as you
walking towards the door)
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with questioning intonation, e.g. ‘ay?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘why?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask using a phrase, e.g. ‘why are you…?’
 Other? Describe

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 9.6 Asking questions using ‘how’
If [name] wants to know how to do something or how something works, how
do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture
 Use questioning / confused facial expression and looking at an object
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) with a questioning intonation, e.g. ‘ow?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask ‘how?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask using a phrase, e.g. ‘how do that?’
 Other? Describe

Part C: Contextual variation

10 Contextual variation
10.1 People
Are there people [name] likes to communicate with more than others?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Family
 Peers
 Carers / education staff
 Other? Describe

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 10.2 Places
Are there places in which [name] is more communicative? If so, please give
details.

10.3 Time
Are there times during the day at which [name] is more communicative? If
so, please give details.

10.4 Topic
What things does [name] typically talk about?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 About the here and now
 Tend to stick to one topic
 Beyond the here and now
 Communicate abstract ideas
 Other? Describe

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Part D: Participation in conversation
11 Strategies used
11.1 Conversational breakdown
When a conversation / interaction between you and [name] gets into
difficulties, what is the usual reason for this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 You have difficulty understanding them e.g. difficulty understanding a vocalisation, difficulty
deciphering a sign, difficulty identifying what symbol they are pointing to, etc.
 They have difficulty understanding you
 Issue with their concentration
 They cannot find the vocabulary they want in their aided AAC system
 They appear not to have the vocabulary they require in their aided AAC system or don’t seem
to know the signs
 They use signs or words in their aided AAC system that do not appear to be relevant
 They do not provide enough information for you to know who or what they are referring to
 Other? Describe

11.2 Signalling communication breakdown

How does [name] signal that communication has broken down, e.g. when
they do not understand what you are saying or you have misunderstood
them?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression or eye contact, e.g. look distressed, wide eyes,
look at you, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation), e.g. saying ‘no, no’
 Use signing or aided AAC to indicate communication breakdown using a single word e.g.
‘oops’, ‘oh no’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to indicate communication breakdown using a phrase, e.g. ‘start
again’, ‘I don’t understand’, etc.
 Other? Describe

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 11.3 Repairing communication breakdown
What does [name] do if you have misunderstood what they are trying to
communicate?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression or eye contact e.g. shake their head, look
frustrated, etc.
 Repeat what they have communicated in the same way, e.g. if they used a gesture they repeat
the gesture
 Change their mode of communication, e.g. if they used a gesture they now use a vocalisation or
aided AAC
 Rephrase their message or elaborate on it
 Use repair strategy vocabulary, e.g. ‘it’s not in my book/device’, ‘I’ll give you a clue…’, I’ll try to
spell it…’
 Ask for assistance to find the message in their aided AAC system
 Other? Describe

11.4 Requesting clarification

What does [name] do if they don’t understand something you have said?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression or eye contact e.g. look confused, shake their
head, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation) e.g. use questioning intonation, says ‘huh?’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to indicate lack of understanding using a single word, e.g. ‘what?’
 Use signing or aided AAC to indicate lack of understanding using a phrase, e.g. ‘I don’t
understand’, ‘say it again’, etc.
 Other? Describe

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 11.5 Maintaining an interaction or conversation over more than two turns
When an interaction is started, how does [name] keep it going?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression or eye contact to signal that they want to
continue an interaction with you e.g. nod in agreement
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation) e.g. ‘uh huh’, ‘mmm’, ‘right’
 Use signing or aided AAC to maintain a conversation by making small talk, e.g. ‘uh huh’, ‘I
understand’
 Use signing or aided AAC to maintain a conversation by contributing meaningful information
using single words
 Use signing or aided AAC to maintain a conversation by contributing meaningful information
using phrases
 Other? Describe

11.6 Giving feedback to a communication partner when listening

How does [name] signal that they are listening to you while you are talking?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression or eye contact e.g. turn to face you, nod, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation) e.g. ‘uh huh’, ‘yeah’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to show they are listening using a single word, e.g. ‘okay’
 Use signing or aided AAC to show they are listening using a phrase, e.g. ‘that’s interesting’, ‘I
agree’, etc.
 Other? Describe

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 11.7 Giving feedback to a communication partner when formulating a
message
How does [name] signal that they are preparing a message / that they would
like you to wait?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression, eye contact or eye pointing e.g. look frustrated
as someone else takes their turn in the interaction, raise hand to communicate ‘wait’
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation) e.g. ‘eh!’, ‘oy!’, ‘me’, etc.
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask you to wait using a single word, e.g. ‘wait’
 Use signing or aided AAC to ask you to wait using a phrase, e.g. ‘please give me time to make
my message’
 Other? Describe

11.8 Changing the topic

How does [name] change the topic in a conversation? Here, consider how
they link the preceding and the new topic and how they introduce a new
topic when the preceding one appears complete.
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression, eye pointing or eye contact to signal a change
in topic
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation)
 Use signing or aided AAC to change the topic using a single word
 Use signing or aided AAC to change the topic using a phrase
 Other? Describe

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 11.9 Joining a conversation
If [name] tries to join a conversation that other people are having, how do
they go about it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression, eye pointing or eye contact to communicate
that they want to join the conversation
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation)
 Use signing or aided AAC to join the conversation using a single word
 Use signing or aided AAC to join the conversation using a phrase, e.g. ‘excuse me’, ‘I’ve heard
about that’, etc.
 Other? Describe

11.10 Terminating an interaction

If [name] wants to end an interaction with you, how do they do it?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture, body movement, facial expression, eye pointing or eye contact to communicate
that they want to end the interaction e.g. look away
 Vocalise (sound, word or word approximation), e.g. ‘bye’
 Use signing or aided AAC to end the interaction using a single word
 Use signing or aided AAC to end the interaction using a phrase, e.g. ‘nice to talk with you’, ‘see
you later’, etc.
 Other? Describe

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 12 Using social etiquette
12.1 Using social greetings and partings
Does [name] use social greetings and partings (e.g. hello, goodbye)? If so,
please describe how they do this.
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use gesture or body movement e.g. wave ‘hi’
 Use facial expression, eye pointing or eye contact e.g. make eye contact and smile for hello
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word) e.g. ‘hi’
 Use signing or aided AAC - single word
 Use signing or aided AAC - phrase e.g. ‘see you soon’
 Other? Describe

12.2 Complying with social conventions

To what extent does [name] show an awareness of fitting in with social
conventions (e.g. use of please / thank you, only swearing if appropriate, not
making personal comments in front of people, appropriate use of informal vs
formal language, etc.)?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture
 Use facial expression, eye pointing or eye contact, e.g. only pull ‘rude’ facial expressions at an
appropriate time like joking around with peers, smile when want to say please, etc.
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word), e.g. ‘ta’
 Use signing or aided AAC - single word, e.g. ‘please’
 Use signing or aided AAC - phrase
 Other? Describe

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 12.3 Telling jokes
If [name] wants to make a joke, how do they do this?
Encourage detailed responses. Prompts could include:
 Use body movement or gesture
 Use facial expression, eye pointing or eye contact, e.g. pull a funny face
 Vocalise (sound, word approximation or word), e.g. make a funny sound
 Use aided AAC to tell a pre-stored joke
 Use signing or aided AAC to tell a joke
 Use signing or aided AAC to fool or direct others to do something funny e.g. a practical joke
 Other? Describe

12.4 Understanding jokes

Does [name] understand jokes you tell them?
If so, describe the type of humour they understand e.g. slapstick, practical jokes, sarcasm,
anecdotes etc.

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Methods of communication chart
Informal Eye Word Aided
Vocal- approximation Sign: Aided
*F = Understood by familiar only gesture, Facial pointing, Sign: AAC: Other:
isation, or spoken single AAC:
All = Understood by all body expression eye word / phrases single specify
sound words phrases
movement contact phrase words
F* All* F All F All F All F All F All F All F All F All F All
1 Context and motivation
1.1 Shows likes ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
1.2 Shows dislikes ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2 Gaining attention
2.1 Interest in interaction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2.4 … to prepare for an interaction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 Attention directing
3.1 Drawing attention to self ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Drawing attention to an event or
3.2
action
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3.3 Drawing attention to an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3.4 Drawing attention to other people ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4 Requesting
4.1 … a person ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.2 … recurrence ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.3 … cessation ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.4 … assistance ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.5 … an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Responding to a direct request for
4.6
action
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.7 … an action or event ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.8 … information ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Responding to a request for
4.9
information
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4.10 … confirmation of information ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

[Link] Page 43 of 47
 Informal Eye Word Aided
Vocal- approximation Sign: Aided
*F = Understood by familiar only gesture, Facial pointing, Sign: AAC: Other:
isation, or spoken single AAC:
All = Understood by all body expression eye word / phrases single specify
sound words phrases
movement contact phrase words
F* All* F All F All F All F All F All F All F All F All F All
5 Rejecting
5.1 … a person ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.2 … an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.3 … an event, action or task ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.4 … assistance ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.5 Protesting ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.6 Responding to ‘no’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5.7 Negotiating ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
6 Naming
6.1 … an object ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
6.2 … an action or event ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
7 Commenting
… on the non-existence of
7.1
objects, people or events
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

… on the existence of objects,

7.2
people or events
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

… on an attribute in the immediate

7.3
context
☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
8 Giving information
8.1 … about self ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
8.2 … about other people or events ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
8.3 … to direct other people or actions ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9 Asking questions
9.1 … using ‘who?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.2 … using ‘what?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.3 … using ‘where?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.4 … using ‘when?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.5 … using ‘why?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
9.6 … using ‘how?’ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

[Link] Page 44 of 47
 Informal Eye Word Aided
Vocal- approximation Sign: Aided
*F = Understood by familiar only gesture, Facial pointing, Sign: AAC: Other:
isation, or spoken single AAC:
All = Understood by all body expression eye word / phrases single specify
sound words phrases
movement contact phrase words
F* All* F All F All F All F All F All F All F All F All F All

11 Strategies used
11.2 Signalling comm. breakdown ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.3 Repairing comm. breakdown ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.4 Requesting clarification ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Maintaining an interaction or
11.5 conversation over more than two turns ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Giving feedback to a comm. partner

11.6 when listening ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Giving feedback to a comm. partner

11.7 when formulating a message ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.8 Changing the topic ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.9 Joining a conversation ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
11.10 Terminating an interaction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
12 Using social etiquette
12.1 Using social greetings and partings ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
12.2 Complying with social conventions ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
12.3 Telling jokes ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

Nb. comm. = communication

[Link] Page 45 of 47
References
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Coupe O’Kane, J. & Goldbart, J. (1998) Communication Before Speech:

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Dewart, H. & Summers, S. (1995) The Pragmatic Profile of Everyday

Communication Skills in Children. NFER-Nelson.

Dewart, H. & Summers, S. (1996) The Pragmatics Profile of Everyday

Communication Skills in Adults. NFER-Nelson.

Mogford, K. (1973). Communication schedule. Child Development Research Unit:

University of Nottingham.

Bibliography
Burkhart, L.J. (1993) Total Augmentative Communication in the Early Childhood
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Goodwin, S., Jans, D. & Wise, R. (2011) C.O.D.E.S. Framework, Keycomm Resource
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