This applied dissertation was designed to analyze the effect Melodic Based Communication Therapy has on minimally verbal children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, particularly tact responses and their generalization in the natural environment. MBCT is a replicable protocol for pairing melodies with target words to elicit speech in children…

Describing events may be challenging for any child, but children who use communication aids may face unique linguistic, pragmatic, and strategic challenges in conveying information with the communication means they have available. This study explores strategies used by young, aided communicators when describing the content of a video unknown to…

Expressive language is an important skill to develop in children with intellectual disabilities. It not only aids in decreasing the likelihood of challenging behaviors from occurring but also aids in increasing the individuals independence and assistance in them becoming successful members of society. No previous studies have examined the…

Purpose: The current study examined whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with typically developing children, perceive and produce gestures to identify nonpresent objects (i.e., referent-identifying gestures), which is crucial for communicating ideas in a discourse. Method: An experimenter described the uses of…

A growing number of research groups are now including older minimally verbal individuals with autism spectrum disorder in their studies to encompass the full range of heterogeneity in the population. There are numerous barriers that prevent researchers from collecting high-quality data from these individuals, in part because of the challenging…

This study examined the influence of verbal self-instructions on age differences in task switching. Task-switching ability, measured as the difference between performance in single-task blocks and in mixed-task blocks in which participants switch between two tasks (mixing costs), increases during childhood and decreases in old age. To measure the…

Communication is the exchange of a message between two or more people. Every one communicates in many different ways and for many different reasons. Communication can be expressive or receptive. Children who are deaf-blind may never learn to talk. However, they can express themselves to you. They can receive the messages you send them. Through…

Effective communication with children is a human process that can help or hinder development. The term "communication" encompasses both the content perspective (what is communicated) and the transportation perspective (the manner in which meaning is communicated). The most important communication factor, human perspective, has two implications for…