Assessing word processing capability of the nonvocal, nonwriting

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Abstract
Issues in clinical assessment of nonvocal, nonwriting individuals (school-aged or adult) for prognosis for learning to read and spell and thus for using computers for linguistic communication are discussed. Specific tests of visual skills (for whole word or word-like patterns and for embedded symbol or symbol sequence) and of linguistic skills (for phonemic analysis and vocabulary knowledge) are recommended because they were shown to have concurrent validity for achievement in word decoding and encoding for a nondisabled sample of beginning readers before and after a year of formal reading instruction; these tests can be administered in the same way to nonvocal, nonwriting individuals as to nondisabled individuals on whom the tests were normed. Tests are also recommended for monitoring text comprehension, once reading instruction is implemented that is adapted to the response capabilities of the nonvocal, nonwriting individual. Professionals in the field of augmentative and alternative communication are urged to advocate for the services of qualified reading specialists for severely communicatively handicapped individuals who are appropriate candidates for formal reading and spelling instruction.