The Communication Matrix, developed by Charity Rowland, Ph.D., is an assessment tool with robust scientific and clinical roots designed to assess the communication of people with profound and severe communication difficulties. It pinpoints an individual’s current communication level and gives a framework for determining future goals.

The Communication Matrix is appropriate for individuals of all ages who are at the earliest stages of communication. It is NOT suitable for individuals who already use some form of language meaningfully and fluently, i.e., using sentences with words, signs, etc.

Design and organisation of the Communication Matrix:

The Communication Matrix involves, among other, two major aspects of communication:

four of the earliest reasons for communicating
and seven levels of communication.

The assessment

To complete the assessment, use the Communication matrix assessment document below. It contains the questions to guide the communication assessment of an individual student.
Fill the Communication Matrix Profile using the colour code for emerging, mastered and surpassed as indicated.
When the Communication Matrix Profile is completed, the result is a picture of where the students are at in regards to expressive communication, the level of communication (and the colour assigned to it) and a pathway for selecting goals. Be mindful that, for some students, there will be a clear mismatch between expressive and receptive communication (see document below, Stages of receptive communication development under Do you want to know more?). In that case, we should assign the level that is the highest and represents better the communication abilities of the students, for example, a student that does not use any symbolic communication expressively but that can follow three keyword instructions would be green rather than indigo or orange. In any case, speak to a Speech and Language Therapist for guidance when needed.
The Communication Matrix Profile provides a one-page visual summary of the information that you have entered about the individual’s communication skills. The Profile contains 80 cells, each representing a skill at a particular level of communication.
The assessment should be used to baseline students and to compare the results with a future assessment (termly or yearly summative assessments). It can also guide professionals on relevant goals for students.

Note: when assigning a communication colour to a student, use the level where the students feel more secure even if they have a few elements achieved in the next level.

Communication Matrix assessment.docx

Communication matrix assessment Word version

Communication Matrix assessment.pdf

Communication matrix assessment PDF version

Matrix profile.docx

Communication Matrix Profile

Do you want to know more?

For more information about the Communication Matrix, click here.
And, if you want to get a better perspective of how different elements of communication development fit together, the document below shows how the different levels of expressive communication relate to the stages of receptive communication development.

Stages of receptive communication and language development

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