Naturalistic Observations of Nonverbal Children with Autism : A Study of Intentional Communicative Acts in the Classroom
Joint Authors
Engelhardt, Paul E.
Drain, Samantha
Source
Issue
Vol. 2013, Issue 2013 (31 Dec. 2013), pp.1-10, 10 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2013-06-25
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
10
Main Subjects
Social Sciences (Multidisciplinary)
Abstract EN
We examined evoked and spontaneous communicative acts in six nonverbal children with autism (10–15 years, M = 12.8, SD = 2.1).
All participants attended the same special school for children with autism but were in different classes.
Each was observed for 30 minutes during a typical school day.
An observer coded the presence/absence of an antecedent, the form and function of the communicative act, and the teacher’s response to the child.
One hundred and fifty-five communicative acts were observed, 41% were spontaneous and 59% were evoked.
The main antecedents to evoked communicative acts were verbal prompts, and most of the evoked communicative acts were physical in nature (i.e., motor acts and gestures).
However, verbalizations and the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) were higher for spontaneous communicative acts.
The functions of spontaneous communicative acts were primarily requests.
Results showed a substantial number of “nonresponses” from teachers, even following evoked communicative acts.
These results suggest that teachers may not actively promote intentional communication as much as possible.
Therefore, our findings provide information concerning ways in which educators could facilitate intentional communication in non-verbal children with autism.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Drain, Samantha& Engelhardt, Paul E.. 2013. Naturalistic Observations of Nonverbal Children with Autism : A Study of Intentional Communicative Acts in the Classroom. Child Development Research،Vol. 2013, no. 2013, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-461283
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Drain, Samantha& Engelhardt, Paul E.. Naturalistic Observations of Nonverbal Children with Autism : A Study of Intentional Communicative Acts in the Classroom. Child Development Research No. 2013 (2013), pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-461283
American Medical Association (AMA)
Drain, Samantha& Engelhardt, Paul E.. Naturalistic Observations of Nonverbal Children with Autism : A Study of Intentional Communicative Acts in the Classroom. Child Development Research. 2013. Vol. 2013, no. 2013, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-461283
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-461283