Title: Aided Language Modeling and Requesting Behavior in Two Preschool Children With Autism Laura Colgan, B. S.; Trina Becker, M.S.; Tina K. Veale, Ph.D. Eastern Illinois University
1Aided Language Modeling and Requesting Behavior
in Two Preschool Children With Autism Laura
Colgan, B. S. Trina Becker, M.S. Tina K. Veale,
Ph.D.Eastern Illinois University
Introduction Children with autism lack many
essential skills required for effective
interpersonal communication (Hale,
2005). Augmentative and alternative communication
(AAC) systems can compensate for the impairment
and disability patterns of individuals with
severe expressive communication disorders
(Glennen DeCoste, 1997). Children using AAC
systems develop language differently than verbal
communicators (Goossens, Crain, Elder, 1999
Sevick, Romski, Watkins, Deffebach,
1995). Language development in AAC users requires
communication partners to illustrate the
functional and interactive uses of the AAC system
(Goossens, Crain, Elder, 1999 Sevick, Romski,
Watkins, Deffebach, 1995). Aided language
modeling (ALM) is an intervention strategy for
AAC users that engages the child in interactive
play and involves models of simultaneous
vocalization and functional usage of AAC symbols
(Drager, Postal, Carrolus, 2006). Drager et. al
(2006) found ALM to be an effective intervention
to increase symbol production and comprehension,
as well as maintaining the production and
comprehension skills developed with the
intervention strategy for two preschoolers with
autism.
Responses Partial Response Uses device to make
request using 1-3 symbols Full Response Uses
device to make request using 4 symbols Prompted
Response What do you want? Show/Tell
me. Spontaneous Response No prompt before
request
Data for Each Participant
Participant 1 Partial and Full Responses
Conclusions Aided language modeling was effective
in teaching four-symbol requests in both
subjects. Both subjects increased the number of
responses using four symbols and decreased the
number of responses using one to three
symbols. Aided language modeling was not
effective in increasing the amount of spontaneous
requests for both subjects. Aided language
modeling was not effective in decreasing the
amount of prompts for both subjects.
Participant 2 Partial and Full Responses
Strengths and Limitations Strengths Controlled
for researcher bias controlled for Hawthorne
effect inter-observer agreement Limitations
Low number of subjects possible error in data
collection by two clinicians
Research Questions Is aided language modeling
(ALM) effective in teaching preschool children
with autism to produce four-symbol requests on an
AAC device? Is ALM effective in teaching
preschool children with autism to decrease the
production of partial requests on an AAC
device? Is ALM effective in decreasing the number
of prompts necessary for AAC users to make
requests?
Need for Future Research What would results
indicate given larger number of subjects? What
are the effects of ALM upon other communicative
functions in children with autism? How does ALM
affect functional communication in children with
other types of developmental disabilities?
Participant 1 Spontaneous vs. Prompted Responses
- Subjects
- Twin girls with moderate to severe autism
- Age 5 years, 7 months
- Limited to no functional speech
- Normal hearing and vision acuity
- Established AAC users
Selected References Drager, K. D. R., Postal, V.
J., Caroolus, L. (2006). The effect of aided
language modeling on symbol comprehension and
production in two preschoolers with autism.
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology,
15, 112-125. Glennen, S. L., DeCoste, D. C.
(1997). Handbook of augmentative and alternative
communication. San Diego, CA Singular Publishing
Group, Inc. Goossens, C., Crain, S. S., Elder, P.
S. (1999). Engineering the preschool environment
for interactive symbolic communication 18 months
to 5 years developmentally. Birmingham, AL
Southeast Augmentative Communication Conference
Publications. Hale, C. M. (2005). Brief report
The relationship between discourse deficits and
autism symptomatology. Journal of Autism and
Developmental Disorders, 35, 519-524. Sevick, R.
A., Romski, M. A., Watkins, R. V., Deffebach, K.
P. (1995). Adult partner-augmented communication
input to youth with mental retardation using the
System for Augmenting Language (SAL). American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 38, 902-912.
Participant 2 Spontaneous vs. Prompted Responses
Methodology ABA single subject design Clinicians
modeled 30 four-symbol requests on AAC device per
set Partial and full responses made by the
subjects were recorded Prompts used to elicit
responses were recorded Baseline and withdrawal
conditions were implemented before and after
intervention Inter-observer agreement calculated
for 24 of the sets for Participant 1 (86) and
21 of the sets for Participant 2 (91)