Verbal Cues

Verbal cues are one or two word phrases used to prompt the person into action. Verbal cues are only helpful when the person has a mental picture of what they need to do.

Visual Cues

Visual cues is information that the person can understand which prompts them into action.

To change the task, you can either:

• Select a task that only uses the qualities of information that the person can pay attention to.
• Limit the duration of the task to fit within their attention span.
• Slow down the task to match their information processing speed.

Use the title of the modes to see all the information that the person can use and all the information that is ignored. Remember that the scale is hierarchical.

You can adjust task demands by either changing the task, providing cues and demonstrations or direct assistance.

A description of the ACLs has been created that can be included in the appendices of the report. This information is downloadable here.

The recommendations will directly relate to the reason for writing the report. Having worked with others who have to read these reports, I know their pet hate is when clinicians write a recommendation and don't explain nor justify it. Not stating the logic behind your recommendation is not a convincing way to write a report.

Communication strategies are listed for the person and significant others in the modes. Communication strategies use the quality of information that the person is able to understand. I really enjoy working with the Speech Language Pathologists in the US. I wish this group of clinicians would spread to use of the ACDM internationally to their speech counterparts.

Descriptions of basic and instrumental activities of daily living need to be individualised. The profiles have a typical description and common intervention methods. I cannot state enough that these need to be specific for each individual case.

Another disclaimer can be applied to last minute referrals, such as:

• After thirty minutes of trying to learn how to use a sock aid to follow hip precautions, the person's ability to learn and anticipate secondary effects was not evident. On-site supervision to follow hip precautions is recommended.

The face validity of the observed activity is the strength of the report. Select an obvious action or activity that is connected to the reason for the referral. The common questions and answers are:

When I write my reports, I like to use pictures. These are easily available through our cell phones. A picture tells a thousand words. The pictures can show what type of quality of information the person was able to pay attention to copy. I record how often the person refers to the sample as this tells me how long they can hold a mental picture. I also record how long the person was able to pay attention to the task. This allows me to establish a pattern of performance on their sustained attention.

The ACLS-6 is used to record the person's pattern of performance using standardised activities. Being in an updatable App format means that clinicians around the world may use the same activities and same measurement methods to discuss their observations. New activities may be added without huge shipping costs and materials may be printed relatively inexpensively.