SoCIAL framework (Keegan et al., 2025)

Purpose: Keegan, Hoepner, et al. (2023) developed a framework for social, cognitive-communication assessment, which was intended to make social communication assessment efficient, comprehensive, and accessible to practicing clinicians.

Method: Feedback on the published framework was solicited from expert researchers and clinicians at a variety of conference meetings, including the 2023 International Brain Injury Association Congress, 2023 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, and 2024 International Cognitive-Communication Disorders Conference. The authors incorporated this feedback to develop an updated, clinically applicable framework of communication entitled Social Communication Implementable and Applicable Lens (SoCIAL). The goal of this update was to provide clinically applicable recommendations that clinicians can feasibly implement in their assessment of social communication.

Results: The SoCIAL framework is presented and described with the inclusion of contextual factors. The focus of the framework shifted to the scope of practice of a speech-language pathologist and their role in social communication. Practical, accessible methods and tools that can be applied in the context of this framework are identified and critically appraised.

Conclusions: This framework highlights the intersecting variables (contextual, social, personal, and environmental) that clinicians should consider during the assessment process and when working to support collaborative goal setting, as person-centered intervention is planned. While there is a growing literature base that supports a focus on social communication in context, there remains a disconnect between the literature and clinical application that current researchers and practitioners have an opportunity to address. It is our hope that the SoCIAL framework provides a framework for supporting clinical implementation and moving translational research forward.

Supplemental Material S1. Glossary.

Keegan, L. C., Hoepner, J. K., Togher, L., Kennedy, M., Bogart, E., Brunner, M., & MacDonald, S. (2025). Social communication implementable and applicable lens: A framework for addressing assessment of social communication. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_AJSLP-24-00121