TEST OF AIDED-COMMUNICATION SYMBOL PERFORMANCE (TASP)

     by Joan Bruno, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

The TASP is an augmentative communication (AAC) Assessment tool that can be used to quickly and easily assess AAC symbolic skills.  It can be used with a wide variety of clinical populations including children with autism, apraxia, cerebral palsy and developmental delay.  The TASP is a “paper” tool, making it ideal for individuals who find it challenging to stay on task when technology is introduced.   It is an essential component of an AAC evaluation. The TASP provides a starting point to guide the design of communication boards and assist in the selection of an appropriate SGD or augmentative communication App.  By understanding how a child perceives and understands symbols, professionals can determine if the single meaning symbols used in Apps such as Gateway, Word Power, Crescendo, Speak for Yourself are better suited for a student than Apps or SGDs that use multi-meaning icons.  The TASP can also be used to help establish appropriate AAC intervention goals that target symbolic and syntactic development.

Benefits of the TASP

The TASP is an easy-to-use tool for assessing a range of symbolic skills needed to:

     Design a communication board,

     Select an AAC App,

     Select an AAC device and

     Establish appropriate AAC intervention goals.

The TASP serves  as a tool to benchmark progress in aided communication performance.   It uses Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) and complements other components of the AAC assessment process.  It includes four subtests, which can be administered over a period of sessions to test understanding of:

     Symbol size and number

     Grammatical encoding

     Categorization

     Syntactic performance

The TASP is appropriate for children through adults who have the physical ability to point to symbols from a field of four.  

     Administration time ranges from 10 to 20 minutes.

     Scoring procedures are objective and rapid.

     Test forms are reproducible

     The TASP can be used with children and adults.  

The TASP can be purchased through GoBoardmaker.com (SKU M3MJ205) Cost – $299.