Preliminary investigation of the effects of a prelinguistic AAC intervention on social gaze behaviors from school-age children with multiple disabilities

Abstract

Some school-age children with multiple disabilities communicate predominately through the display of prelinguistic behaviors such as gestures, vocalizations, facial expressions, and eye gaze. Increasing the frequency and complexity of these behaviors may be one approach to building communication and transitioning toward linguistic communication (i.e., symbolic language). The current preliminary study used a single-subject ABB’B” design nested within a multiple baseline across participants design with randomization to evaluate a multi-phase intervention aimed at increasing social gaze behaviors. The participants were 5 school-age children with multiple disabilities. Participants appeared to demonstrate increases in both the frequency and complexity of their social gaze behavior during the intervention according to Improvement Rate Difference calculations that largely maintained four months after intervention ended. More research is needed, but the intervention shows promise as one aspect of AAC intervention for children who are prelinguistic communicators. Future research is critical to evaluating this or related interventions with a larger number of individuals and across a larger range of profiles and ages.

Keywords:

• Augmentative and alternative communication
• beginning communicators
• intervention
• multiple disabilities
• gaze behavior
• prelinguistic communication

Acknowledgements

The author thank the journal Editor, Dr. Ralf Schlosser, for his contribution of expertise and insight toward the reporting of this study and the analyses completed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.