Improving the assertive conversational skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in a natural context
| Autor: | Alana Telesford, Irem Bilgili, Amanda Thomas, Shu-Chen Tsai, Elizabeth Ayad, Jacqueline Chovanes, Linda M. Bambara, Christine L. Cole |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
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education 05 social sciences 050301 education Social environment Context (language use) Pragmatics medicine.disease Developmental psychology Psychiatry and Mental health Clinical Psychology Multiple baseline design Autism spectrum disorder Intervention (counseling) Developmental and Educational Psychology medicine 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Assertiveness Conversation Psychology 0503 education 050104 developmental & child psychology media_common |
| Zdroj: | Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 48:1-16 |
| ISSN: | 1750-9467 |
| Popis: | Background With the increased demand for social conversation in high school settings, difficulties with pragmatics, or the use of language in social situations, can leave adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) socially isolated from their peers. Extending previous research, this study examined the effects of a multicomponent peer-mediated intervention (PMI) implemented during lunch on improving the assertive conversational skills (initiating, asking follow-up questions, and commenting) of four passive communicators with ASD. Method A nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the combined effects of peer training and focus student instruction on the use of text cues for improving conversation with trained network peers. Text cues for initiations were faded, and probes for generalization with novel peers were made. Results Results revealed increases in the adolescents’ ability to initiate, ask-follow-up questions, participate more in conversation acts, and engage in longer on-topic conversations with trained peers. Total assertive acts, including the use of comments to maintain conversation, substantially increased for three of the four adolescents at rates comparable to their peers. Conversational gains generalized in probes with novel peers and social validity measures attested to the intervention acceptability and conversation quality. Conclusions This study provides additional evidence that PMI can be structured to produce robust changes in the conversational skills of adolescents with ASD in a natural social context. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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