title: Evaluation of language and communication skills in adult key word signing users with intellectual disability: advantages of a narrative task.
abstract: The evaluation of language and communication skills in adults who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in general and key word signing (KWS) in particular, can be an elaborate task. Besides being time-consuming and not very similar to natural communication, standard language tests often do not take AAC or KWS into account. Therefore, we developed a narrative task specifically for adults with intellectual disability (ID) who use KWS. The task was evaluated in a group of 40 adult KWS users. Outcome measures on the narrative task correlated significantly with measures of standard language and communication tests for verbal language, but not for use of manual signs. All narrative measures, for both verbal language and manual signing, correlated highly with similar measures from a conversation sample. The developed narrative task proved useful and valid to evaluate the language and communication skills of adults with ID taking into account both their verbal language and manual sign use.
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Otorhinolaryngology (ExpORL), Herestraat 49, Box 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: stien.meuris@med.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Kristien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meuris
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Parenting and Special Education, Vesaliusstraat 2, Box 3765, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: bea.maes@ppw.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Bea
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Otorhinolaryngology (ExpORL), Herestraat 49, Box 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; Department of ENT, Head & Neck Surgery, MUCLA University Hospitals Leuven, Campus St.-Rafaël, Kapucijnenvoer 33, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: inge.zink@med.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012813:Sign Language
keywords: Adults; Augmentative and alternative communication; Intellectual disability; Key word signing; Manual signing; Narrative task