This article describes the operation of a Communication Coaching Program, which was designed to provide supports for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) attending the University of Rhode Island. To succeed in college programs, many students with ASDs need access to specialized programming and personnel who are able to foster their…

Two classrooms were studied to describe the forms and patterning of verbal overlaps in sharing-time narratives of 16 students (8-12 years old) with communicative disabilities. Videotape analysis revealed type and frequency of overlaps, type and frequency of the turn relations giving rise to overlap instances, and remedial tactics that appeared to…

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who work with adults with cognitive-linguistic impairments, including aphasia, have long needed an assessment tool that predicts ability to function in the real world. In this article, it is argued that virtual reality (VR)-supported approaches can address this need. Using models of disability such as the…

Cooperative group treatment for aphasia based on cooperative learning principles is designed to improve communication skills during small, two-member group interactions. The treatment involves teamwork incorporating positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, individual accountability, and group processing. Group size, treatment…

This paper discusses issues and research questions about facilitated communication that emerge from examining separately its components of physical touch and the written word. It describes the experiences of two adolescents (diagnosed as autistic and severely retarded) with facilitated communication, the role of touch as a teaching method, and the…

The validity of facilitated communication's effects are viewed from three perspectives, labeled as the plausible perspective, which is unexpected literacy; the skeptical perspective, which claims that social-communicative variables unintentionally influence intervention outcomes; and the enigmatic perspective, which neither rejects outright the…

This paper calls for the incorporation of family counseling into rehabilitation programs treating cognitive-communicative disorders in head-injured individuals. The paper describes general family responses that may be anticipated when a family system experiences head injury, functional versus dysfunctional family responses to a crisis, and three…

This article discusses some specific outcome measures for social communication problems exhibited by school-age children. Measures are discussed relative to (1) a model for viewing abilities essential for social communication and (2) a framework for sampling these abilities across four different contexts. A case example applies these outcome…

This article proposes the application of a situated pragmatics (also known as community-based training or activity-based intervention) approach to intervention with children having severe communication disorders. Models for this approach have been developed by the World Health Organization and specialists in alternative and augmentative…

Described is a two-pronged approach to assessment of cognitive-communicative functions in head injury, incorporating elements of both restorative and compensatory models. The approach combines: (1) use of standardized cognitive measures, and (2) observational protocols for systematic evaluation of functioning on integrated, multicomponent tasks…

This article describes the communication development program of a cooperative association of 55 Illinois school districts, which provides special education services for children and adolescents with low incidence disabilities including severe communication disorders. It examines the program's philosophy, principles, and practices; its authentic…

The paper outlines risk factors for the development of both communication disorders and emotional/behavioral disorders in young children, outlines communication assessment considerations, offers a transactional approach to early intervention which emphasizes the interplay between young children and their caregiving environments, describes…

This article presents an intervention framework in which speech-language pathologists and behavioral psychologists view the challenging behaviors of individuals with traumatic brain injury from a communication perspective and address these problems in a way that is positive, integrated, functional, collaborative, and environmental. (Author/JDD)

Case studies are presented of three individuals with severe communication impairments who had been judged to be intellectually impaired but revealed unexpected achievements after training in nonspeech communication. The communication training used facilitation to circumvent hand function impairments. (JDD)

A case study of a graduate student with language-learning disorders is used to demonstrate the development of self-determination abilities. Academic and communication interventions were used to foster development of the student's self-knowing and self-valuing as the basis for becoming a self-determined individual. The role of the speech-language…