Coaching Effective Communicative Access for Individuals With Autism Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication

• In Event: Enhancing Communication in Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

This study examined the effects of parent coaching using an iPad on the communication skills of nine minimally-verbal children with autism. Over the course of approximately 24 sessions, parents were coached on ways to follow their child’s lead to enhance shared engagement, provoke a thought and foster a communicative interaction, provide support for the response through modeling and prompting, and to naturally reinforce communicative behavior. Coaching sessions at the beginning and end of the study were coded for parent and child behaviors. Preliminary results indicate that parents showed the greatest increase in their use of open-ended and structured questions, prompts, and reinforcement. Children exhibited the greatest increase in the use of symbols for communication with modest increases in spoken language.

Authors

• Fernanda Orsati, Mackenzie Presbyterian University

• Ashlyn Smith

• Casey Woodfield, Rowan University

• John Hussman