Descriptions of the Fields of a Proposal

Review remarks by Initial Review Group Member on Proposal #430
Changes in block d310-d329
Initial Review Period February 2020

1. Has the author correctly entered the “Primary Code Affected” in that field on the Platform? Yes

2. Are there any “Secondary Codes Affected”? Yes

3. Has the author correctly entered the “Secondary Codes Affected” in that field on the Platform? No.
-this proposal includes deleting the code d325.
-any inclusion or exclusion, based on one of these codes’ titles, in a given ICF code, will need to be modified later on in accordance with the changes made in these codes’ titles.

4. Does the proposal affect the Descriptive Note in a given ICF code text? Yes

5. Does the proposal affect Inclusions in a given ICF code text? Yes

6. Does the proposal affect Exclusions in a given ICF code text? Yes

7. Is the proposal age specific? No

8. Does the proposal have plausibility as a classification entity in the ICF? Yes

9. Does the proposal add any additional value as a new classification entity? Yes

10. Would the proposal, if adopted, affect the described ICF situations in all cultures? Yes

11. Does the proposal address a genuine underlying need or deficiency within the ICF? Yes

12. Has the author incorporated sufficient rationale to justify adopting their proposal, as written, into a harmonized ICF? Yes.

13. Is the author’s rationale for the proposal evidence-based? Yes.

14. Is the proposal consistent with the existing structure and content of the ICF? Yes

15. Is the proposal consistent with conceptual and taxonomic principles in the ICF? Yes

16. If adopted, would this proposal be consistent with the goal of ensuring standardization and comparability of data reporting? Yes

Initial Reviewer’s recommendation:
This proposal is ready to go to the FDRG layer for discussion.

Comments from FDRG TC, April 2020. Liane Simon (Germany), Jaana Paltamaa (Finland), Haejung Lee (South Korea), Olaf Kraus de Camargo (Canada):

Comprehending seems to be more a body function (mental function) than activity/participation. The issues described in Italy have not been observed in Germany, Canada or Finland. This might be a particularity of the Italian use of the terms and therefore should not be changed in the ICF.

Recommendation: keep original ICF code

SUGGESTED FINAL VERSION
Communicating - receiving Understanding spoken and nonverbal messages (d310-d329)
d310 Communicating with -receiving - Understanding spoken messages
...
d3100 Communicating with -receiving – Responding to the human voice
d3101 Communicating with -receiving - Understanding simple spoken messages
...
d3102 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding complex spoken messages
...
d3108 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding spoken messages, other specified
d3109 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding spoken messages, unspecified
d315 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding nonverbal messages
...
d3150 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding body gestures
...
d3151 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding general signs and symbols
...
d3152 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding drawings and photographs
...
d3158 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding nonverbal messages, other specified
d3159 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding nonverbal messages, unspecified
d320 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding messages in formal sign language
...
d325 Communicating with - receiving - written messages
Understanding messages that are conveyed through written language (including braille)

d329 Communicating - receiving - Understanding spoken and nonverbal messages, other specified and unspecified

Rationales
• The second option “Understanding” (without the phrase “the meaning conveyed by”) is preferred by people who have expertise in both spoken and written communication (see signatories below).
• Preservation of code numbers in the updated ICF should be identical with those used in the ICF-CY to ensure continuity of information. For example, the ICF-CY code d3100 is “Communicating with - receiving - Responding to the human voice”. The code in the updated ICF “d3100 Communicating with - receiving - Comprehending simple spoken messages” is coded as d3101 in the ICF-CY. Thus, the code numbers in the updated ICF should be
d3100 Communicating with - receiving - Responding to the human voice;
d3101 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding simple spoken messages;
d3102 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding complex spoken messages
as in the suggested final revision
• “Communicating with – receiving – spoken messages” needs to be retained for “d3100 Responding to the human voice”, and “d3150 Communicating with – receiving – body gestures” “Receiving” is not the same as “comprehending” or “understanding” for these codes, especially relating to infants or people who have limited communicative capacity.
• For all others in this block it is recommended that the word “understanding” replaces “receiving”. The word “comprehending” is more frequently used in written (reading/writing) contexts and less in oral (speech/language) contexts. “Understanding” is a more universal term.
• Delete the additional phrase “the meaning conveyed by …” because “Understanding the meaning conveyed by” refers to understanding language, but does not refer to understanding speech (i.e., “intelligibility” of speech sounds) – see Intelligibility in Context Scale (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/ics). It is more accurate to say “Understanding”.
• Simplify d320 so that it reads d320 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding messages in formal sign language.
• Simplify d325 so that it reads d325 Communicating with - receiving - written messages Understanding messages conveyed through written language (including braille).
• The word braille needs to be lowercase in this context. Capitalised Braille refers to the inventor.


Changes endorsed by
1. Sharynne McLeod, PhD, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Life Member of Speech Pathology Australia (SPA), Fellow of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Deputy Chair, Child Speech Committee, International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP), Former Vice President of International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics Association (ICPLA)
2. Pamela Enderby, PhD, University of Sheffield, UK. President of International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (formerly known as International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, IALP)
3. Helen Grech, PhD, University of Malta, Malta. Past President International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (formerly known as International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, IALP)
4. Travis T. Threats, PhD, Saint Louis University, USA. Fellow, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). ASHA’s representative liaison to WHO, Distinguished Scholar and Fellow, National Academies of Practice
5. A. Lynn Williams, PhD, East Tennessee University, USA. 2020 President-Elect American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
6. Elise Baker, PhD, Western Sydney University, Australia. Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
7. Helen L. Blake, PhD, University of Technology, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
8. Michelle I. Brown, PhD, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
9. Joanne Cleland, PhD, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. Child Speech Disorder Research Network, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
10. Anna Cronin, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Churchill Fellow, Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
11. Kathryn Crowe, PhD, University of Iceland, Iceland. Fulbright Fellow, Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
12. Robyn Halloran, PhD, LaTrobe University, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
13. Suzanne C. Hopf, PhD, Charles Sturt University, Fiji. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
14. Kate Margetson, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
15. Sarah Masso, PhD, The University of Sydney, Australia. Endeavour Fellow, Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
16. Holly McAlister, Charles Sturt University, Australia.
17. Jane McCormack, PhD, Australian Catholic University, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
18. Nicole McGill, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA)
19. Michelle Pascoe, PhD, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Child Speech Committee, International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP)
20. Ben Phạm, PhD, Ha Noi National University of Education, Viet Nam. Child Speech Committee, International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP)
21. Van H. Tran, PhD, Charles Sturt University, Australia. NAATI Accredited Translator, Linguist
22. Anniek van Doornik-van der Zee, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands.
23. Sarah Verdon, PhD, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Speech Pathology Australia (SPA). Child Speech Committee, International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP)
24. Karla N. Washington, PhD, University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

After consultation with our German experts we can give the following feedback:

- We support the statement of the FDRG TC April 2020 (05-May-2020) to keep the original ICF structure and text as it is.

Comments from Nordic ICF-Network 2020-06-29 (Jaana P, Solvejg B, Thomas M, Ann-Helene A). We suggest further discussion about both proposals 430 and 431 at the annual meeting to improve the consistency in these proposals. Understanding and comprehending seems to be more a body function (mental function) than activity/participation. Our suggestion is to keep “Communicating with receiving….“ in the titles.

We do not support (in SUGGESTED FINAL VERSION by the international SLPs) the suggested changes of the concepts of existing ICF-codes of sub-categories to d310. We should not reuse existing codes for other concepts/categories. The original codes are:
d3100 Communicating with receiving simple spoken messages
d3101 Communicating with - receiving - complex spoken messages

Suggested new concepts of existing codes
d3100 Communicating with - receiving - Responding to the human voice;
d3101 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding simple spoken messages;
d3102 Communicating with - receiving - Understanding complex spoken messages

Please look at our earlier comments by Nordic CC

We understand where the proposal comes from, but unsure if it will clarify the code like intended.

Need more discussion.

Agree with the initial rationale and with the general principle to keep the titles not too long.
Another option could also be to remain close to the first option but using «understanding … [spoken language]».
Some categories (d3101, d3102) coming from the ICF-CY have been translated in the French CY version using a verb equivalent to « understanding ».