STRATEGIES FOR FACILITATING
SPONTANEOUS COMMUNICATION WITH
STUDENTS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM.
16th International Conference on Autism, Intellectual
Disability & Developmental Disabilities
January 23, 2015
Presented by
Vicky Roy, Ph.D. CCC-SLP and
Amy Cameron, MA.CCC-SLP
OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
• Better understand the process that leads to prompt dependency
in nonverbal, low verbal, and “response only” verbal students.
• Recognize the importance of their own communication use and
the impact that it has on the communication of their students.
• Learn three specific strategies to facilitate spontaneous,
independent contributions during reciprocal communication with
their students.
TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION THERAPY GOALS
FOCUS ON:
•Requesting
•Labeling
•Following Directions
•Responding
CLINICAL PRACTICE: AREAS OF CONCERN
• Prompt Dependency
• Limited Spontaneous Communication
• Limited Reciprocity
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
• Language and Cognition are inter-related
• The majority of what is SAID to many children with the label of autism is in an
attempt to GET the child to respond, not to allow the child to generate their own
input.
• Focus on isolated, measurable goals
• Imperative (Directive) Communication vs. Declarative (Experience Sharing)
Communication
STATIC VS DYNAMIC
Measurable
Contextually dependent
Reliable
Unclear
Logical
Grey areas
Predictable
Integrated
Rule based
Evolving
Facts
Emotional
Rules
Collaborative
ABILITIES INCLUDED IN RECIPROCAL COMMUNICATION
Engagement
Inhibition
Competency
Ideation
Attention/focus
Formulation
Experience matching
Auditory processing
Curiosity
Articulation
Tolerance for breakdowns/repairing
Co-regulation
Social referencing
Co-ordination
Reading context
Collaboration
Understanding
Self Regulation
TRUE RECIPROCAL CONVERSATION
• Joint attention
• Mutual topic with central coherence (ability to derive overall meaning from a mass
of details)
• An unspoken “agreement” on the topic with flexibility around novel ideas
• Individual contributions that are unique and related and integrated with partner’s
ideas
• Back and forth participation, timing, monitoring, adjusting and repairing
• Shifting attention based on the movement of the conversation
• Ability to integrate all of the above
COMMUNICATIVE INTENT
The purpose or meaning behind why people are communicating with others
The “why” behind communication, language functions
What kind of communicative environment are we creating?
People with Special Needs, especially individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
often have limited communicative intent
More importantly, these same students are exposed to limited communicative intent
(Primary purpose for communicating with a student with autism is to GET…)
WHY?
As a Speaker, we expect and rely on feedback from our Listener. So much so
that when we do not receive it, we will “make it easier” for the child by using
Questions, Commands and Prompts.
We create an “imperative environment”.
We facilitate a dependency on prompting.
RECOGNIZE YOUR INTENT
Keep the goal in mind,
Be aware that what you say is influencing the BRAIN
Expect your job to be challenging because you might receive little
feedback initially
Declarative vs Imperative
Getting something vs creating opportunity
Directing vs Communicating/Collaborating
DIRECTIVE/IMPERATIVE COMMUNICATION
Questions with definite answers
Commands with actions that can be deemed
“right or wrong”
Prompts or fill in the blank statements
All require minimal thought and input from the Listener
All have the intent of GETTING the child to respond
EXPERIENCE SHARING/DECLARATIVE COMMUNICATION
Early communication functions that are non-directive are things like:
Making actual choices
Expressing opinions
Calling for attention
Noticing things
Commenting
TAKE AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR
COMMUNICATION
What is the child doing?
What are YOU doing?
How is your language impacting the child’s opportunity to grow as a
reciprocal communicator
How are you feeling about this interaction – check your own regulation
SYSTEMATIC OPPORTUNITIES
• Must have systematic opportunities for STUDENTS to make progress
as thinkers
• How to think vs How to know
STRATEGY #1
Identify a time frame or a specific activity where you will practice
creating thinking and sharing opportunities for your students
What percentage of the child’s day can be devoted to thinking
opportunities?
STRATEGY #2
Decrease the amount of talking, specifically the amount of questions
and commands you use.
By asking a questions and giving commands, you ONLY provide an
opportunity for your students to RESPOND.
Comment, think out loud, invite, notice, share, expand, make real
decisions
STRATEGY #3
SLOW DOWN
Give your child time to think, organize themselves and make a
contribution.
Pause for a minimum of 5 seconds before scaffolding, repeating, or
rephrasing.
Use the “anticipatory gaze” and “pregnant pausing”
IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
THANK YOU!
Amy Cameron, MS, CCC-SLP
Vicky Poston Roy, PhD, CCC-SLP
Pathways Treatment Center
Interactive Communication, LLC
Apex, NC
Baton Rouge LA, 70809
www.pathwaystreatmentcenter.org
AECameron@aol.com
www.interactivecommunicationbr.com
vposton22@gmail.com
vickyroy@dtsbr.com