RELIABILITY OF THE ASSESSMENT OF IMPAIRMENTS, DISABILITIES AND HANDICAPS IN SURVEY-RESEARCH ON SPEECH-THERAPY

An important aspect of the practice of speech therapy is the diagnosti c assessment. This assessment is complementary to the medical diagnosi s. The International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and H andicaps (ICIDH) is regarded as a good starting point for the classifi cation of speech therapy assessments. Based on the ICIDH, a form was d eveloped for the registration of impairments, disabilities and handica ps in survey research on speech therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the assessment of impairments, disabilitie s and handicaps based on clinical observations and examinations by spe ech therapists. On the basis of the percentage of agreement and kappa values it is concluded that the reliability of the assessment of the i mpairments, disabilities and handicaps was satisfactory to excellent f or most of the categories.