Pragmatic Language Therapy Activities for Older Adolescents and Adults
Margaret D. Miller
TIPS 4 Kids
University of Missouri-Columbia
INTRODUCTION
THERAPY TARGETS
DATA COLLECTION
High functioning autism is primarily a social deficit marked
by the following pragmatic deficits:
Areas of Deficit
Qualitative vs. Quantitative
•
Use of nonverbal behaviors to regulate social interaction
(e.g., body language, eye contact)
•
Difficulty establishing and maintaining peer relationships
•
Lack of shared enjoyment of interests with others
•
Difficulty with conversational skills
•
Lack of social or emotional reciprocity
Individuals with this diagnosis have difficulty developing
peer relationships.
Successful pragmatic language therapy can:
•
Decrease these pragmatic differences
•
Provide this population with skills to form lasting
relationships
•
Decrease their feelings of isolation and loneliness
What is Pragmatic Language Therapy?
•
Pragmatic language refers to:
•
•
•
“Social Skills”
Encompasses all verbal and nonverbal communication
affecting social interaction
Speech-Language Pathologists provide pragmatic language
therapy to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
•
The purpose of pragmatic language therapy:
•
To improve individual’s social functioning
•
Enable them to appropriately participate in conversations
•
Interact with a variety of individuals
•
Form friendships and relationships.
• Eye Contact
• Initiating & Terminating Conversations
• Follow-Up Questions
• Topic Maintenance
• Turn-Taking
• Body Language
• Recognizing/Expressing Emotions
• Perspective Taking
• Humor
• Reducing Negative/Distracting Behaviors
Writing Quantifiable Goals
• Important to write quantifiable, measurable goals in order
to:
• determine the therapy’s effectiveness
• demonstrate improvement
• determine when a goal has been met
Example of non-measurable goals:
• The client will maintain the topic of conversation during
conversations with familiar and unfamiliar partners.
Qualitative Data
•
Observations
•
Non-measurable
•
Descriptions of what was observed
•
May be helpful for noting small changes in performance from
session-to-session
•
Provides professionals a fuller picture of the client’s performance
•
Ex. The client made poor eye contact throughout the session.
Quantitative Data
•
Measurements
•
Numbers associated with session
•
Measures therapy’s effectiveness and progress on goals
•
Often necessary for insurance coverage
•
Ex. The client required 6 verbal cues to maintain adequate eye
contact throughout a 50 minute therapy session.
• The client will maintain appropriate eye contact.
Qualitative and Quantitative Data Combined
Example of measurable goals:
• The client will maintain the topic of conversation over 4
consecutive conversational turns when speaking with
familiar and unfamiliar conversation partners.
• The client will maintain appropriate eye contact throughout
a 50 minute session with less than 3 verbal cues from the
clinician.
•
Descriptions and measurable data from sessions
•
Notes smaller changes in performance as well as larger,
measurable changes
•
Lengthier, but provides the most information
•
Ex. The client made poor eye contact when asked questions by
the clinician. He required 6 verbal cues to maintain adequate eye
contact throughout a 50 minute therapy session.
SUMMARY
• Older adolescents and adults with high functioning autism
demonstrate a variety of pragmatic language impairments.
• The majority of pragmatic language therapy activities are
geared toward younger children and adolescents.
Purpose of the Project
•
Lack of pragmatic language therapy material for older
adolescents and young adults with ASD
•
Need for quantitative measurement system to objectify data
and demonstrate progress
•
Create an ‘Activities and Data Collection’ booklet specifically
geared toward older adolescents and adults with ASD
•
Enable beginning clinicians to choose targets, write
measurable goals, and measure changes
• The ‘Activities and Data Collection’ booklet provides:
• Therapy materials for this population
• Specific examples of measurable goals
• Ways to collect quantitative data
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
•
Autism Speaks (www.autismspeaks.org)
•
The Gray Center (www.thegraycenter.org)