Pragmatic assessment and therapy for persons with brain damage: What have clinicians gleaned in two decades?

Pragmatic competence comprises a number of interrelated skills which manife st in real-time in a range of adaptive behaviors and which are driven by un derlying cognitive processes that appear to be variably compromised in brai n damage. Differential neurological profiles reflect different pragmatic ou tcomes. The essence of pragmatic assessment and therapy for clinicians is t herefore to capture accurately, measure, and, where possible, enhance the a bility of the individual to adapt to a changing communicative environment. Assessment measures differ along a number of dimensions. A distinction is d rawn between testing and assessment and the argument proposed that for clin ical purposes, it is helpful to keep the notions of functional and pragmati c distinct. (C) 1999 Academic Press.