SLP 472 Ch. 9 & 10 Quiz

9 principles of intervention for beginning communicators

1. Ensure all individuals have the right to communicate.

2. Start intervention as early as possible.

3. Provide intervention for older beginning communicators.

4. Involve family and other communication partners.

5. Focus on meaningful opportunities for communication.

6. Ensure opportunities for communication are age-appropriate.

7. Provide appropriate accommodations to support participation.

8. Provide numerous opportunities for communication.

9. Choose effective evidence-based intervention techniques.

Beginning communicators

Individuals who are at the early stages of communication development and learning the skills required to participate in daily life.

This group includes infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers who have a range of developmental disabilities such as ASD, CP, DS, & intellectual disabilities. Also includes older children & adults with severe developmental disabilities who are learning early communication skills

Pre-intentional communicators

Do not yet understand that they can impact others by communicating or cause-and-effect relationships but rather exhibit reflexive behaviors (ex: crying); Infants with & without disabilities are at this stage

Pre-symbolic communicators

Those who are learning to use and combine symbols.

Typically occurs between 8/9 months when intentionality develops and 12 months when first words emerge.

During this stage, infants initially learn to communicate for two primary reasons:

1. To express needs and wants and regulate the behavior of others

2. To interact socially and develop social closeness

Ex: child reaching for a toy

How to build intentionality

Typically, intervention includes the following steps:

1. Establish routines focused on motivating activities.

2. Initiate the interaction.

3. Pause and wait expectantly.

4. Watch carefully for a signal.

5. Respond immediately to the signal as if it were intentional.

6. Repeat.

Joint attention

Coordination between the shared activity and the partner; Critical to the development of symbolic language because it allows the child to make the association between words and their referents in the environment.

Ex: AAC user and communication partner are focused on playing a board game

PECS

Picture Exchange Communication System

Begins with teaching a student to exchange a picture of a desired item with a teacher/communicative partner, who immediately honors the request. After the student learns to spontaneously request for a desired item, the system goes on to teach discrimination among symbols and then how to construct a simple sentence. In the most advanced phases, individuals are taught to respond to questions and to comment. Additionally, descriptive language concepts such as size, shape, color, number, etc. are also taught so the student can make their message more specific. For example, I want big yellow ball.

Ex: individual picks up single symbol (picture of apple), shows it to the communication partner, and the communication partner gives them an apple. Prompting is initially offered, but eventually faded out. Eventually, the individual will use sentences to communicate what they want by selecting "I want" followed by the target symbol/activity, and the final stage involves responding to various simple questions "What do you hear?" "I hear ___"

Visual schedules

Represent the main activities in the individual's day with symbols, typically organized in sequence in a row or column.

Provide information about what happens next and may serve to facilitate transitions especially for those who have difficulty with changes.

May incorporate real objects, tangible symbols, photographs, line drawings, or written words.

How can SLPs/SLPAs teach how to communicate choices? Why is this important?

1. Identify opportunities to communicate choices

2. Determine how to represent the choices

3. Determine how to present the choices (choice arrays)

4. Select the instructional techniques

Learning to communicate choices is important because it supports development of communication skills and provides experiences that form the foundation for self-determination.

What is functional communication training and why is it important?

An intervention used to address challenging behavior. Important because it involves a set of procedures designed to reduce challenging behaviors by teaching functionally equivalent, socially appropriate communication skills.

Complex communication needs

significant speech, language, motor &/or cognitive impairments that prevent individuals from communicating in conventional ways; exist when individuals' communication needs do not match their current communication abilities

Developmental disabilities

can be congenital or occur early in life; usually affect children & continue throughout life (ex: ASD, CP, DS)

Cerebral palsy

refers to a group of neurological disorders affecting muscle movement, coordination, & posture caused by damage or abnormalities in the brain; specifically affects motor cortex & disrupts ability to control movement; damage is permanent & life-long

Down syndrome

a congenital condition characterized by a distinctive pattern of physical characteristics including a flattened skull, folds in inner corners of eyes, large tongue, short stature, & some degree of intellectual, social, & practical skills usually arises from a defect involving chromosome 21

Intellectual developmental disability

limitations to a person's ability to learn at an expected level & function in daily life; levels vary greatly in children; takes these children longer to walk, speak, dress, eat independently, & learn at school

Autism spectrum disorder

condition related to brain development that impacts how a person perceives & socializes with others, causing problems in social interaction & communication; also includes limited & repetitive behaviors; spectrum = range of symptoms & severity

Childhood apraxia of speech

an uncommon speech disorder in which a child has difficulty making accurate movements when speaking; muscles don't perform normally b/c brain has difficulty coordinating or directing movements

What are three factors that interact across disabilities when designing AAC systems or individuals who rely on AAC?

1. Provide early access & prepare for future

2. Provide support

3. Remove barriers

What are key factors when implementing AAC with individuals with autism spectrum disorder?

Promoting social communication & skills to build social interactions (not just wants & needs) b/c the nature of ASD as a social mediator. Also, providing intervention across the lifespan & utilizing effective intervention techniques to maximize results

What are the key factors when considering AAC systems for individuals with childhood apraxia of speech?

Determine when & how to integrate AAC into intervention; intensive & individualized intervention to address speech difficulties by providing repetitive practice into planning, programming, & production; support for functional communication & language development while also enhancing speech production; important to stimulate language development b/c they may not be able to practice language skills orally