You will be provided with a case history and the results of a formal assessment for a case study child. For this assessment task you will need to review the information provided and analyse the assessment results. To do this, you will need to refer to the assessment manual of the formal assessment, which is located in the speech pathology assessment cupboard. A template to complete this task has been provided on your Moodle page. 

Section 1: Assessment Interpretation

1. Outline the pertinent aspects of the case history with reference to the literature. Pertinent aspects of the case history are those that indicate the client may be experiencing communication difficulties or aspects which may impact the client’s communication development (such as individual, family or community factors).
2. Analyse the formal assessment results and provide an interpretation of what these assessment results mean. Students are expected to analyse and interpret all aspects of the formal assessment provided including subtests. For results interpretation, students must adhere to the assessment manual.

Section 2: Differential Diagnosis

1. Outline a differential diagnosis for the client based on the information provided. This should be one sentence.
2. Justify your differential diagnosis for the client with reference to the case history information, the assessment results and high-quality literature. As part of the justification, students should refer to the diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis given.

Section 3: Recommendations for further assessment or information gathering

1. Provide two recommendations for further assessment or information gathering for the client. Each recommendation should be no more than two sentences.
2. Justify each recommendation (therefore you should have two justifications) with reference to high-quality literature.

Level of AI use allowed:

• Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas.

You will be marked against four criteria for this assessment task:

1. Your ability to analyse, interpret, and explain the assessment results in relation to a case. This section is worth 45%.
2. Your ability to integrate case information and assessment results to describe the client’s communication profile including initial diagnostic decision making. This section is worth 15%.
3. Your ability to apply clinical reasoning skills to make appropriate recommendations for further assessment and your ability to justify these in reference to the case study information and the literature. This section is worth 30%.
4. Your ability to use appropriate formatting; academic writing conventions including grammar and use of APA 7th edition referencing. This section is worth 10%.

Please see the CB87 Academic Integrity handout: https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=3805644, located on the Speech Pathology Course Wide Moodle page for information on paraphrasing, source quality, and artificial intelligence use across units in the speech pathology course. 

For this assessment task, you will be required to complete a 20-minute viva (an oral assessment in the form of an interview) based on a paediatric clinical scenario. Your viva will occur on Monday the 15th of June 2026 OR Tuesday the 16th of June 2026 between 8:00am and 6:00pm on the Rockhampton North Campus. Your specific time allocation will be provided at least four weeks prior to the viva occurring via Moodle. Your viva will be video recorded for assessment marking purposes.

Your viva promptly commences at the time listed on Moodle. Please ensure that you arrive at least 5 minutes prior to your scheduled time and sit outside of the allocated room. If you are less than 5 minutes late, you will be permitted to complete your viva, however the amount of time you were late, will be deducted from section 1 (and other sections sequentially as applicable). For example, if your viva was scheduled for 9:00am and you attend at 9:02am, you will be given 3 minutes for section 1 instead of 5 minutes. If you arrive more than 5 minutes past your scheduled viva time, this will be considered as non-attendance. Please note that as per section 5.54 in the Higher Education Assessment Policy Higher Education Assessment Policy, late penalties do not apply to this assessment task. If you do not attend and complete this assessment task at the specified date/time, you will receive a mark of zero. In the event that you are unable to attend the assessment task for reasons outlined in the Higher Education Assessment Policy, you must submit an extension request through Moodle.

 The stages of the viva have been outlined below:

Step 1: One week prior to your viva you will be provided basic case history information and the assessment results of a paediatric client which will pertain to the developmental areas of language and literacy. In preparation for your viva, you are expected to research your case, and prepare to answer questions in relation to the following areas.

Step 2: You will arrive and sit outside of the allocated room at least 5 minutes prior to the time outlined on Moodle. 

Step 3: Your examiner will ask 2 questions about differential diagnosis and impact. You will be given 4 minutes to answer these questions.

Step 4: Your examiner will ask 3 questions about goal setting. You will be given 6 minutes to answer these questions.

Step 6: Your examiner will ask 4 questions about evidence-based therapy planning. You will be given 8 minutes to answer these questions.

Step 7: Your examiner will ask 1 question about problem-solving for diverse populations. You will be given 2 minutes to answer this question.

Grace Period: 
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.  

Level of GenAI use allowed: 
Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas.

You will be marked against five criteria for this assessment task:

1. Your ability to analyse and integrate assessment information to provide an accurate differential diagnosis. This section is worth 20%.
2. Your ability to analyse and interpret assessment information to inform the development of appropriate and effective goals that align with evidence-based practice and client needs. This section is worth 25%.
3. Your ability to create and justify a holistic client-centred therapy plan. This section is worth 40%.
4. Your ability to demonstrate problem solving skills by making adjustments to your therapy plan when presented with a change to a therapy case. This section is worth 10%.
5. Your professionalism and communication throughout the viva. This includes your use of appropriate, respectful and professionally acceptable language when discussing client’s with communication difficulties. This section is worth 5%.

Please see the CB87 Academic Integrity handout: https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=3805644, located on the Speech Pathology Course Wide Moodle page for information on paraphrasing, source quality, and artificial intelligence use across units in the speech pathology course. 

SPCH12002 is a pre-requisite unit for future Work Integrated Learning units which involve completing clinical placements. Prior to your commencement of any clinical placement, there are a number of mandatory pre-clinical requirements that must be completed. In order to be eligible to pass this unit, all pre-clinical requirements must be completed, and evidence of completion of each requirement submitted via the online platform SONIA by no later than Week 8 Friday at 5:00pm (May 8, 2026).

After submission, your assessment will undergo a compliance review over a two-week period to ensure it meets all required standards. If your submission meets all requirements, no further action is needed and you will receive confirmation of this through receipt of a pass grade. If errors are identified in your submission, you will receive specific instructions on how to correct these issues. You are then required to follow the provided instructions to address all identified errors and submit the corrected assessment by the Correction Submission Deadline Week 12 Friday at 4:00pm (June 5, 2026) via the same platform (SONIA). Failure to submit corrections by the deadline will result in a FAIL grade for this assessment. 

CB87 Mandatory Check Guide contains all information required to complete the preclinical requirements. Please note that these requirements are mandated by authorities and facilities external to CQUniversity and are subject to change at any time. Pre-clinical requirements will be presented and discussed in week 1.

Results for this hurdle will be available once completion of all pre-clinical requirements is confirmed by the practice education coordinator.

Grace Period: 
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.  

Level of AI use allowed:

Level 1: You must not use AI at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core knowledge and skills.

This is a pass/fail assessment task. Information on each mandatory check and how students may complete each mandatory check will be outlined on Moodle. This information can also be accessed through the CB87 Mandatory Check Guide.