Facilitating communication in children with multiple disabilities: three case studies of girls with Rett syndrome

Purpose: To investigate the effect of cueing on communicative responses of children with multiple disabilities in an educational setting. It was hypothesized that differences would exist in teacher interactional styles and the use of orienting cues would increase the communicative responses of the participants. Method: A naturalistic observation research method was employed in order to examine the interaction of three student-teacher dyads in three special schools. Three different activity types were videotaped from which interactions were coded and analysed. Results: Multi-modal cueing facilitated communicative responses of children with Rett syndrome. However, increased communication opportunities provided by caregivers did not elicit increased responses from the girls. Conclusion: There is a difference in cueing by teachers in their interactions with children with multiple disabilities. Also, more frequent communicative interactions did not necessarily lead to increased student responses. It is suggested that amount and type of cueing may need to be considered to be effective in generating student responses. The small number of participants, however, means findings should be viewed cautiously and that more research is indicated.

Predictors of care-giver stress in families of preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities

Background This study examined the predictors, mediators and moderators of parent stress in families of preschool-aged children with developmental disability. Method One hundred and five mothers of preschool-aged children with developmental disability completed assessment measures addressing the key variables. Results Analyses demonstrated that the difficulty parents experienced in completing specific caregiving tasks, behaviour problems during these caregiving tasks, and level of child disability, respectively, were significant predictors of level of parent stress. In addition, parents’ cognitive appraisal of care-giving responsibilities had a mediating effect on the relationship between the child’s level of disability and parent stress. Mothers’ level of social support had a moderating effect on the relationship between key independent variables and level of parent stress. Conclusions Difficulty of care-giving tasks, difficult child behaviour during care-giving tasks, and level of child disability are the primary factors which contribute to parent stress. Implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are outlined.

Communicative repair strategies and problem behaviours of children with autism

The use of strategies by children with developmental disabilities to repair communicative breakdowns has received little attention in the research literature to date. The research that is available suggests that children with severe communication impairments may be more likely to experience communicative breakdowns than their typically developing peers. These children may also have fewer strategies available to them to repair these breakdowns. The present article reviews some of the research in this area and discusses the possible links between communicative breakdowns and the emergence of problem behaviour in children with autism. Theoretical and practical implications are considered and areas for future research are highlighted.

Evaluating parent use of functional communication training to replace and enhance prelinguistic behaviours in six children with developmental and physical disabilities

Purpose: To evaluate parent use of functional communication training (FCT) to replace and enhance prelinguistic behaviours in six young children with developmental and physical disabilities. Method: Initially, the communicative functions of the children's prelinguistic behaviours were assessed by parent interviews. Three communication functions were identified for each child and intervention goals to replace or enhance the child's existing prelinguistic behaviours were developed in consultation with parents. After a baseline phase, parents received training on implementation of FCT. Intervention was staggered across the three communicative functions in a multiple-probe design. Results: Intervention was associated with increases in the replacement communication behaviour. Treatment gains were generally maintained at the monthly follow-ups. Conclusion: The results suggest that parents can use FCT to enhance communication skills in children with developmental and physical disabilities.

Self-regulatory behaviors in children with Down syndrome and typically developing children measured using the Goodman Lock Box

Self-regulation has been identified as an area of difficulty for those with mental retardation. The Goodman Lock Box provides measures of two critical aspects of self-regulation-planfulness and maintenance of goal-directed behavior. In this study, the Lock Box performance of 25 children with Down syndrome was compared with that of 43 typically developing children, matched for mental age (24-36 months). Children in both groups showed similar levels of competence, planfulness and distractibility. However, children with Down syndrome displayed more task-avoidant behavior. Some issues related to the measurements obtained from the Lock Box are raised. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The use of non-verbal repair strategies by children with autism

This study examined possible links between the occurrence of prosodic changes to vocalizations and gestures and the use of problem behaviors by children with autism when attempting to repair communication breakdowns. The repair strategies of six children with autism aged 2-5 years and with fewer than 10 words or signs were analyzed. Mother-child dyads were videotaped at home interacting in naturally occurring contexts. Videotapes were analyzed and coded for communication breakdowns and repair attempts made by the child. Repairs were further analyzed according to the type of repair strategy used, changes in prosidy, and whether the repair mode involved problematic or non-problematic behavior. In most situations, this group of children attempted to repair breakdowns in communication that occurred while interacting with their mothers. Most children used both nonproblematic and problematic behaviors and were less likely to use augmentations as a repair strategy than repetitions and substitutions. Some repetitions and some augmentations involved the use of gestures or vocalizations with increased emphasis or prosidy. Possible links between repair strategies involving increased prosidy and the use of problem behaviors are discussed together with the implications and significance of these finding in relation to early intervention for children with significant communication impairments. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The phonological awareness abilities of children with cerebral palsy who do not speak

To investigate the importance of the connection between being able to speak and the emergence of phonological awareness abilities, the performance of children with cerebral palsy (five speakers and six non-speakers) was assessed at syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme levels. The children were matched with control groups of children for non-verbal intelligence. No group differences were found for the identification of syllables, reading non-words, or judging spoken rhyme. The children with cerebral palsy who could speak, however, performed better than the children with cerebral palsy who could not speak and the control group of children without disabilities, judging written words for rhyme. The children with cerebral palsy who could not speak performed poorly in comparison to those who could speak ( but not the control group of children) when segmenting syllables and on the phoneme manipulation task. The findings suggest that non-speaking children with cerebral palsy have phonological awareness performance that varies according to the mental processing demands of the task. The ability to speak facilitates performance when phonological awareness tasks ( written rhyme judgment, syllable segmentation, and phoneme manipulation) require the use of an articulatory loop.