Research on dynamic assessment points to a promising field where its innovative features differ from traditional assessment by favoring the population that presents challenges in the learning processes or who present socially disadvantaged conditions. Children who need alternative resources for expressive language constitute a significant group that can be benefited from assessment tailored to their needs. In this study, seven children with special needs (communication problems) took part in a dynamic assessment situation using Tzuriel and Klein's Children's Analogical Thinking Modifiability Test (CATM), in order to complete the psychometric assessment carried out by Raven, Columbia and TVIP tests. The latter was a computerized version, applied before and after intervention with an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system. Besides the thought processes, other not specifically cognitive aspects of great importance were considered: the child's reaction to the assessment situation and the kind of task put before, personal and situational variables such as motivation and fatigue, as well as accessibility to the mediation strategies. Such variables were systematized in cognitive, behavioral and affective-motivational categories in the teaching and intervention contexts compounding a mosaic of indicators about the characteristics of children with communicative deficits at different stages of the study. Even though the assessment conditions - traditional and dynamic - were tiring for the children, we were able to identify the operations and cognitive dysfunctions both in the traditional tests and in the dynamic testing, as well as in the intervention. Furthermore, affective-motivational and behavioral factors were shown to affect performance, composing an intra-group learning profile for problem solving. Thus, the study demonstrated that dynamic assessment can be an important tool for psychological diagnosis, complementing traditional psychometric approach, for children with communication problems.
dynamic assessment; augmentative and alternative communication; children with communication problems; special education
