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TPBA2 Observation Guidelines: Communication Development

I. Language comprehension

Questions	Strengths	Examples of behaviors of concern	“Ready for”	Notes
I. A. What early comprehension abilities does the child exhibit?	Responds to or recognizes sounds Recognizes and responds to nonverbal cues (e.g., facial expressions, gestures) Associates sounds with meanings Responds to or anticipates the steps in common routines or sequences	Difficulty responding to or recognizing sounds Does not interpret or respond to nonverbal cues Does not respond to or anticipate familiar routines	Increase association of sounds with objects Increase understanding of nonverbal cues Increase association of actions with consequences
I. B. What types of words and sentences are understood by the child?	Understands the meaning of concrete words (e.g., nouns, verbs, basic concepts) Abstract words (e.g., feelings or ideas) Multiple-meaning words Phrases or expressions	Limited understanding of words Limited understanding of sentences Limited or inconsistent following of directions (relies heavily on gestural and situational prompts)	Increase understanding of variety of vocabulary words Abstract words Multi-meaning words Phrases or expressions Sentences/statements

II. Language production

Questions	Strengths	Examples of behaviors of concern	“Ready for”	Notes
II. A. What modes of communication does the child use?	Uses the following modes to communicate: Eye gaze Facial expressions Body movement Physical manipulation Gestures Vocalizations: vowels, consonants, babbling Verbalizations: words, including word approximations, phrases, sentences	Primary mode of communication is limited to: Eye gaze Facial expressions Body movement Physical manipulation Gestures Vocalizations: vowels, consonants, babbling	Increase use of: Eye gaze Facial expressions Body movement Physical manipulation Gestures Vocalizations: vowels, consonants, babbling Verbalizations: words, including word approximations, phrases, sentences
II. B. What is the child’s frequency of communication?	Communicates as frequently as other children of the same developmental age in all settings and within a variety of communication partners	Reduced frequency and variety of communication with familiar people Unfamiliar people Peers Adults	Increase frequency and variety of communication with familiar people Unfamiliar people Peers Adults
II. C. What are the child’s semantic abilities?	Semantic knowledge levels reflected in words: Referential knowledge (9–15 months) Extended knowledge (15–18 months) Categorical knowledge (24+ months) Metalinguistic knowledge (48–60 months) Expresses the following semantic relations: Agent (e.g., baby) Action (e.g., drink) Object (e.g., cup) Recurrence (e.g., more)	Limited expression of semantic knowledge and semantic relations	Improve use and complexity of the following semantic relations: Agent (e.g., baby) Action (e.g., drink) Object (e.g., cup) Recurrence (e.g., more) Existence (e.g., this ball) Nonexistence (e.g., all gone) Cessation (e.g., stop) Rejection (e.g., no) Location (e.g., up) Possession (e.g., mine) Agent-action (e.g., baby drink)
II. D. What grammatical morphemes does the child produce?	Uses the following: Present progressive (-ing) Prepositions (in, on) Regular and irregular past tense (-ed, came) Possessives (s) Contractable and uncontractible copula Regular and irregular third person (jumps, does)	Misuses or omits: Present progressive (-ing) Prepositions (in, on) Regular and irregular past tense (-ed, came) Possessives (s)	Increase use of the following: Present progressive (-ing) Prepositions (in, on) Regular and irregular past tense (-ed, came) Possessives (s) Contractable and uncontractible copula Regular and irregular third person (jumps, does)

III. Pragmatics

Questions	Strengths	Examples of behaviors of concern	“Ready for”	Notes
III. A. Does the child understand and use joint attention (gestures, vocalizations, or words) to communicate intent?	Communicates unintentionally Makes eye contact Follows and regulates joint attention Uses gaze to regulate joint attention	Does not communicate intentionally Does not establish joint attention	Increase ability to: Make eye contact Respond with reactive sounds Establish joint attention Use delicate gestures Press representational gestures Initiate social games Express intent with words
III. B. What functions does the child’s communication fulfill?	Child communicates for a variety of purposes: Regulatory functions Requests objects Requests actions Protests Declarative-joint attention functions	Limited range of functions: Only requests Only comments Does not clarify Does not use social functions	Increase the range of communication functions: Regulatory (i.e., request, protest) Declarative (i.e., comments, requests for information)
III. C. What conversational or discourse skills does the child demonstrate?	Uses the following conversational strategies: Attends/responds (nonverbally/verbally) to speaker Makes and maintains eye contact Initiates (gestural and vocal/verbal) Takes balanced turns	Demonstrates difficulty initiating a conversation Limited skills in joining a conversation Frequent revisions	Increase ability to use the following conversational strategies: Attending to speaker Initiating conversation Taking appropriate turns

IV. Articulation and phonology

Questions	Strengths	Examples of behaviors of concern	“Ready for”	Notes
IV. A. What speech sounds does the child produce (i.e., vowel and consonant repertoire)?	Appropriate sound repertoire	Sound repertoire is not appropriate	Increase sound repertoire and production of target sounds
IV. B. What are the articulation abilities of the child?	Child consistently demonstrates age-appropriate articulation skills in increasingly complex contexts: Words Phrases Sentences Conversation	Inconsistently demonstrates age-appropriate articulation skills	Decrease articulation errors Decrease phonological processes Increase intelligibility
IV. C. How intelligible is the child’s speech?	Child is intelligible: To family members To familiar people To unfamiliar people	Child is unintelligible: To family members To familiar people To unfamiliar people	Increase intelligibility

V. Voice and fluency

Questions	Strengths	Examples of behaviors of concern	“Ready for”	Notes
V. A. How are the pitch, quality, and loudness of the child’s voice?	Child has adequate breath support for speech production	Child does not have adequate breath support for speech production	Improve quality: Pitch Intonation Resonance Rate Volume Refer for medical evaluation
V. B. How fluent is the child’s speech?	Child exhibits fluent speech	Child exhibits disfluent behaviors	Increase fluency with different communication partners and in different settings

VI. Oral mechanism

Questions	Strengths	Examples of behaviors of concern	“Ready for”	Notes
VI. A. How are the structures and function of the articulators?	Child’s posture and muscle tone are appropriate for breath support and speech production Appearance of the articulators is symmetrical Articulator movements are symmetrical Full range of tongue movements	Head is not held at midline, is extended or retracted	Refer for further evaluation Medical evaluation Dental evaluation Speech-language pathologist Increase control of the articulators for speech production