ABSTRACT
The information elicited from a dynamic assessment (DA) is considerably more detailed and complex than a numerical score that relates to a normative population. In a qualitative way, responses to the mediation and different facilitative cues inform the practitioner about the likely response of the individual to different intervention programmes, and can enable prognosis for improvement to be established. A DA can help to identify what cognitive processes are weak, and can benefit from intervention, and which are stable and used to support weak(er) language skills. Speech and language therapists working with children enrolled in the DA trial were asked to identify broadly the aims of their intervention. Monitoring of the children involved in research into the Dynamic Assessment of Sentence Structure over a period of time revealed that approximately one-third of the children were making little progress in therapy. The recommendation would be to try and further facilitate X’s language and communication via mediation of metalinguistic knowledge and reflection.
