AAC Evaluation

There are two different Assistive Technology (AT) evaluations that can be utilized, each having their own approaches to the assessment process. This section of the blog will  provide links to various assessment tools with a short description of each.

The following two assessments are available for free as PDF files. In order for the assessment to be most effective, a team of professionals should use the tools as assessment guides.

University of Kentucky Assistive Technology (UKAT) Toolkit
This assessment tool is designed to lead professionals through and evaluation of school age children for the use of AT. It is based off the Human Function Model (Melichar & Blackhurs, 1993) and includes the following sections in forms that can be printed from the website:

  1. Consideration - guides in determining what AT will meet the student's needs
  2. Pre-Assessment Profile - assists in gathering important information about the child
  3. Assessment Planning & Data Collection - guides the planing and conductin of assessments as well as providing a format for recording assessment data
  4. Assessment Report Outline - assists in summarizing and organizing the data collected during the assessment
  5. Trial Implementation tool - guides in documenting results of an AT trial
  6. AT Implementation - helps the plan for implementation of the AT
  7. Knowledge and Skills Survey - assists in planning for professional and personal development of skills related to AT use

This assessment tool is designed to assist in the evaluation of a student's need for AT in the student's customary environment. The decision making process for AT in this assessment tool is based off of Joy Zabala's SETT frame work, SETT standing for Student, Environments, Tasks, and Tools. Each chapter of the assessment covers a specific area of need such as communication or activities for daily living and guides the professional through a logical proces of determining need and ability. 

There are other assessment tools availaible but they must be purchased. The following is one such tool:

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