Gather all the past data regarding the individual's communication issues and handicaps. You will use the data for the indirect assessment.
Perform an indirect assessment of communication skill. Review the individual's history and case records. You should look for underlying patterns in communication difficulties or behaviors. Pay special attention to the individual's past assessments and intervention strategies. Previous records might have documented suggestions for future assessments. The final outcome and goal of this indirect assessment would be to determine what pertinent data is missing in the individual's record.
Create a direct assessment for the purpose of gathering the pertinent missing data. Such an assessment should be in the form of a questionnaire or checklist. You may wish to use a Likert scale (a scale that ranks the individual from 1 to 7 in subjective terms, such as terms of frequency or skill) to gather subjective information, such as "frequency of stuttering" or "expressive ability."
Keep in mind to whom you will give the direct assessment; it is not always necessary to give it to the individual herself, as past teachers and caretakers of the subject may be able to present the information to you. Complete the direct assessment quickly; the purpose is to collect the information that you will use to structure an interview with the subject.
Design and perform an interview. The interview should include questions and tasks that seek any missing information (i.e., information that was not received through the indirect assessment or questionnaire). Again, this assessment may not need to be given to the subject herself, but it can be given to a teacher or caretaker. Keep this in mind when you design the interview. The goal of the interview is to gain an accurate description of the communication problems relative to the individual, learn the circumstances or precursors to these problems, clarify the consequences of the problems and develop a set of summary statements about the individual's communication ability. Refer to the Functional Assessment Interview for an appropriate design of such an interview (available in the Resources section).