Assessment of Comprehension and Expression

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression (ACE) is a standardised assessment that assesses children’s understanding of spoken language and their verbal expression. It is used by the speech and language therapist to identify if your child is presenting with delayed or impaired language development. This assessment can be used with children aged 6 years to 11 years 11 months.

Speech and language therapy can be of great benefit for children with language difficulties as it can aid the development of language abilities through working on improving specific language skills. Our speech and language therapists use the information from the assessment to create an individualised therapy programme that increases and improves the language skills that your child is finding difficult.

• Identifies delayed or impaired language development.
• Identifies specific areas of language difficulty.
• Information from the assessment can be used to create an intervention plan.

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression can be used by a speech and language therapist to assess both expression and comprehension of language in primary school aged children to determine what areas of language children may have difficulties with and the specific language skills children are struggling with. The result of the assessment will highlight what areas the speech and language therapist can work on with the child to improve their language abilities.

Find out more…

• What will the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression assess?
• Why is the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression needed?
• Typical conditions that require the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression
• What information will I receive following the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression?
• Treatment following the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression
• Summary

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression assesses children’s understanding of verbal language, their ability to express their thoughts effectively, grammar, semantic skills and pragmatics. These skills are assessed through the 5 main subtests:

Sentence comprehension

Assesses children’s understanding of spoken sentences of various lengths and complexities through pointing to the picture that best matches the sentence spoken.

Inferential comprehension

Assesses children’s ability to infer information from the verbal and visual information provided. This is done by children being told a short story and being presented with a picture to aid their understanding, they are then asked a series of questions that require them to look for clues in the text and pictures as well as use their knowledge to answer logically and make predictions.

Naming

Assess children’s expressive vocabulary skills through presenting a series of pictures that children have to name.

Syntactic formulation

Assesses children’s ability to produce various grammatically correct sentences. Children are given a picture and read a model sentence or the start of a sentence as a reference.

Semantic decisions

Assess children’s ability to make appropriate links between two pictures or words. Children are presented with a picture or word in the middle of a page that is surrounded with four other pictures or words. Children are asked to match the picture or word in the middle with the correct linking picture or word.

There are two further subtests that assess children’s non-literal comprehension and narrative skills. These subtests are optional and can be used by the speech and language therapist to gain more information about children’s ability to tell a story or their understanding of everyday non-literal language.

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression is needed to help speech and language therapists identify the specific areas of language children are struggling with in order to form a therapy plan that will improve their language abilities. Children who struggle with comprehension and or expression can often find school and academic learning difficult. This is because they may not fully be able to understand what is being said or they may struggle to express their thoughts in an effective or appropriate manner.

Below are some of the common conditions the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression is used for:

• Aphasia
• Acquired head / brain injury
• Autism spectrum disorder
• High-functioning autismg
• Developmental verbal dyspraxia
• Learning disability
• Specific language impairment
• Down’s syndrome
• Stroke
• Developmental delay

Our speech and language therapists help children of all abilities who have language difficulties, including those children who have been diagnosed with a condition or difficulty and those who are awaiting a diagnosis or have not yet been identified or diagnosed with a particular condition. Our speech and language therapists aim to work with you and your child to create an individualised therapy programme that works on improving those language skills your child finds difficult.

After our speech and language therapists have assessed your child using the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression our speech and language therapists will provide you with a summary of what the assessment has found. After an assessment, you can request a detailed report about the information gained from the assessment. The report will explain how your child’s difficulties may impact their communication skills and learning ability in the classroom. Our speech and language therapists will also provide recommendations on how to improve your child’s language abilities as well as provide a therapy plan within the report.

Some of the available language therapy treatments are listed below:

• Receptive language therapy
• Expressive language therapy
• Language group
• Advice, training and strategies for parents, teachers, carers and other professionals

We offer a wide range of treatments, if you feel that your child could benefit from a certain therapy programme contact our speech and language therapist for more details. Email office@sltforkids.co.uk or call us on 0330 088 2298.

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression assesses children’s understanding of verbal language, their ability to express their thoughts effectively, grammar, semantic skills and pragmatics. These skills are assessed through the 5 main subtests:

Sentence comprehension

Assesses children’s understanding of spoken sentences of various lengths and complexities through pointing to the picture that best matches the sentence spoken.

Inferential comprehension

Assesses children’s ability to infer information from the verbal and visual information provided. This is done by children being told a short story and being presented with a picture to aid their understanding, they are then asked a series of questions that require them to look for clues in the text and pictures as well as use their knowledge to answer logically and make predictions.

Naming

Assess children’s expressive vocabulary skills through presenting a series of pictures that children have to name.

Syntactic formulation

Assesses children’s ability to produce various grammatically correct sentences. Children are given a picture and read a model sentence or the start of a sentence as a reference.

Semantic decisions

Assess children’s ability to make appropriate links between two pictures or words. Children are presented with a picture or word in the middle of a page that is surrounded with four other pictures or words. Children are asked to match the picture or word in the middle with the correct linking picture or word.

There are two further subtests that assess children’s non-literal comprehension and narrative skills. These subtests are optional and can be used by the speech and language therapist to gain more information about children’s ability to tell a story or their understanding of everyday non-literal language.

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression is needed to help speech and language therapists identify the specific areas of language children are struggling with in order to form a therapy plan that will improve their language abilities. Children who struggle with comprehension and or expression can often find school and academic learning difficult. This is because they may not fully be able to understand what is being said or they may struggle to express their thoughts in an effective or appropriate manner.

Below are some of the common conditions the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression is used for:

• Aphasia
• Acquired head / brain injury
• Autism spectrum disorder
• High-functioning autism
• Developmental verbal dyspraxia
• Learning disability
• Specific language impairment
• Down's syndrome
• Stroke
• Developmental delay

Our speech and language therapists help children of all abilities who have language difficulties, including those children who have been diagnosed with a condition or difficulty and those who are awaiting a diagnosis or have not yet been identified or diagnosed with a particular condition. Our speech and language therapists aim to work with you and your child to create an individualised therapy programme that works on improving those language skills your child finds difficult.

After our speech and language therapists have assessed your child using the Assessment of Comprehension and Expression our speech and language therapists will provide you with a summary of what the assessment has found. After an assessment, you can request a detailed report about the information gained from the assessment. The report will explain how your child’s difficulties may impact their communication skills and learning ability in the classroom. Our speech and language therapists will also provide recommendations on how to improve your child’s language abilities as well as provide a therapy plan within the report.

Some of the available language therapy treatments are listed below:

• Receptive language therapy
• Expressive language therapy
• Language group
• Advice, training and strategies for parents, teachers, carers and other professionals

We offer a wide range of treatments, if you feel that your child could benefit from a certain therapy programme contact our speech and language therapist for more details. Email office@sltforkids.co.uk or call us on 0330 088 2298.

The Assessment of Comprehension and Expression is used by our speech and language therapists to assess children’s understanding and expression of verbal language and to identify any language difficulties that are present. The information gained from your child’s assessment will be used to create a unique therapy programme that improves the language skills your child is finding difficult accounting for their goals and motivators. If you would like more information on the assessment please email office@sltforkids.co.uk or call on 0330 088 2298.