Teaching · Speech & Language

Every reason to communicate, and every way the student does it.

Mark nine reasons for communicating against four forms, from speech to behavior. The summary shows which reasons the student already has, which only come out as behavior, and which the team has not seen yet.

Start an inventoryWhat you get
$19one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Speech & Language toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

The inventory

One record per student and date. Use initials or a code, never a name. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Speech & Language$19 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For each student, a grid of nine functions by four forms, and a summary of strengths, functions carried only by behavior, gaps, and the next teaching priority.
Who it is for
Speech-language pathologists, special education teachers and AAC teams working with students who use few words, signs, devices or behavior to communicate.
Format
Browser form with a keyboard grid. Several saved inventories per student to compare over time; printed with the summary or as a blank grid; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Speech & Language toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Speech & Language space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
one reason, many ways to say it
Drawn for this page. The same reason, like asking for a drink, can be said with speech, a sign, a device or by reaching.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with the student’s initials or a code and the date.
  2. Note where the information comes from and which settings it covers.
  3. Mark each function and form: i independent, p after a prompt, x not seen.
  4. Read which functions are carried only by behavior or not seen.
  5. Write the team’s next teaching priority.

Start an inventory

What the inventory is for

Function before form

A student who pulls an adult to the fridge is asking for something; one who pushes work away is refusing or asking for help. Seeing the reason behind behavior shows which messages the student already has, and where a clearer form, a word, sign or device message, would serve the same purpose.

Using it over time

Completing the grid again every few months shows functions moving from behavior to clearer forms and from prompted to independent. Keep each inventory as its own record so the change is easy to see.

What it is not

It is not a standardized assessment and gives no scores or ages. It describes what the team and family see, to plan teaching.

Sources

  1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Practice Portal: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (assessment of communication functions and forms).
  2. Beukelman, D. R., and Light, J. C. Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Supporting Children and Adults with Complex Communication Needs, 5th edition (2020).
  3. Carr, E. G., and Durand, V. M. (1985). Reducing behavior problems through functional communication training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18(2), 111 to 126.
  4. National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities (2016). Communication Bill of Rights.

The example student is made up. The inventory describes communication; it does not assess it against norms. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.