Communication Matrix

The Communication Matrix has created a free assessment tool to help families and professionals easily understand the communication status, progress, and unique needs of anyone functioning at the early stages of communication or using forms of communication other than speaking or writing. The Communication Matrix is an assessment tool with robust scientific and clinical roots that helps those who support people with severe communication difficulties find a path to self-expression. It pinpoints an individual’s current communication level and gives a framework for determining future goals. The Matrix includes all types of communication, including alternative forms (picture systems, electronic devices, voice-output systems, Braille, sign language and 3D symbols) and pre-symbolic communication (gestures, body movement, sounds, eye gaze and facial expressions), as well as typical communication (speech). It covers seven levels of development in the earliest stages of communication.

• Format: Observation tool for assessment or progress monitoring completed by professionals or parents

• Skill Area Assessed: Expressive Language

• Population: Multiple disabilities, severe communication disorders

• Languages: English, Chinese, Italian, Swedish, Farsi, German, Hungarian, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Portuguese, French, Romanian

• Published: 1990, revised in 1996 and 2004

Communication Matrix