Author:

Keywords:

communication, augmentative communication, autism, diagnostic instrument, intellectual disability, language, sense, Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Education, Special, Genetics & Heredity, Clinical Neurology, Psychiatry, Rehabilitation, Education & Educational Research, Neurosciences & Neurology, LANGUAGE, SENSE, Adolescent, Adult, Autistic Disorder, Belgium, Child, Preschool, Communication, Communication Aids for Disabled, Female, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Male, Netherlands, Observer Variation, Principal Component Analysis, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, 11 Medical and Health Sciences, 13 Education, 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, 3202 Clinical sciences, 5202 Biological psychology

Abstract:

The ComFor (Forerunners in Communication) is an instrument to explore underlying competence for augmentative communication. More specifically, it measures perception and sense-making of non-transient forms of communication at the levels of presentation and representation. The target group consists primarily of individuals with autism and intellectual disability (ID) without or with only limited verbal communication. The ComFor is suitable for children and adults with a developmental level between 12 and 60 months. This paper describes the theoretical framework and structure of the ComFor, the results of a study on its psychometric properties and its clinical uses.