Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

TABLE 1 (Continued)
Subject Age Gender Diagnosis Primary communication form used by participant
24 4 Male Pervasive developmental
disabilities
25 10 Female Pervasive developmental
disabilities
26 7 Male Pervasive developmental
disabilities
M 6.23
special education teachers, speech and language
pathologists). Therefore, the students’
current diagnoses may not be accurate. For
the same reason, we limited information regarding
their cognitive and language abilities.
The students in this study were selected by
interviewing speech and language pathologists
and special education teachers. The following
criteria were used in the selection process:
(a) use of non-symbolic forms of
communication (e.g., gestures, pointing, etc),
and/or vocabulary limited with five words
(e.g., mommy, want, go, etc.) and (b) a developmental
disability (e.g., Down syndrome, Autism,
etc.). In addition, none of the students
demonstrated a history of hearing loss, neurological
impairments, visual problems, or a
physical disability.
All students were able to complete daily
living skills such as toileting, dressing, or taking
a shower with verbal or physical assistance.
They were able to follow one or two steps
instructions (e.g., “look”, “write”, “open your
bag, and get your book”). When their names
were called by others, they were able to recognize
and acknowledge the communication
partner. Finally, they were able to identify basic
concepts such as primary colors, and
shapes. They could turn their head toward the
sound when their name was called.
Data Collection
Data were collected in participants’ classrooms.
Classrooms were similar in size (e.g., 5
to 8 students). The classrooms typically contained
six tables and ten chairs, a variety of
toys (e.g., balls, dolls, etc.) and educational
materials (e.g., drawing books, pens, story
Gestures pointing, vocalizing, reaching, giving/
offering, showing an object, etc.) and
vocalizations
Gestures, four words (e.g. mommy, daddy, go,
come) and word approximations.
Gestures, three (e.g., mummy, go, want) words
and word approximations.
books). Number of student present during
the free play varied and it ranged from one
child to six students.
Each student was video-taped for a 60minute-period
during free play activities that
were held in the classrooms. The first ten
minutes of the observation were excluded
from analysis to minimize the effect of observer
and camera in the classroom. From
remaining 50 minutes, 30-minute segments
were randomly selected. The samples were
obtained in the presence of background
noise; so, the sample would be more typical of
those occurring during everyday communication
breakdowns and repair strategy use.
Moreover, neither students nor teachers were
informed about which recording would be
analyzed; and since they were not informed,
the video samples were as natural as they
could be. The context of the interaction was
determined by the teacher in a way that would
lead to optimal communicative interaction
among student.
Data Coding
Video tapes were analyzed, and interactions
between students and teachers were coded for
communication breakdowns used by their
teachers and type of repair behaviors used by
the students. The first and second author discussed
potential categories and their definitions
based on prior research.
Definition of initial communication behavior
was adapted from Golinkoff (1986) and
Keen (2005). An initial communication behavior
is defined as the child’s behavior that
(a) was a gesture or vocalization; (b) was directed
toward a teacher to interact; and (c)
Communication Breakdown / 403