Background: Recent studies have shown that it is possible to foster affective involvement between people with congenital deafblindness and their communication partners. Affective involvement is crucial for well-being, and it is important to know whether it can also be fostered with people who have congenital deafblindness and intellectual…

This study examined the effects of a 20-week intervention to foster affective involvement during interaction and communication between an adult with congenital deafblindness (CDB) and his caregivers in a group home and a daytime activities center. Using a single-subject design, we examined whether the intervention increased affective involvement…

Introduction: In this study, we applied the Intervention Model for Affective Involvement (IMAI) to four participants who are congenitally deafblind and their 16 communication partners in 3 different settings (school, a daytime activities center, and a group home). We examined whether the intervention increased affective involvement between the…

The article presented here introduces the Intervention Model for Affective Involvement (IMAI), which was designed to train staff members (for example, teachers, caregivers, support workers) to foster affective involvement during interaction and communication with persons who have congenital deaf-blindness. The model is theoretically underpinned,…

Educators and children with congenital deaf-blindness experience major challenges in building interactions that are reciprocated and sustained. Studies have shown that affect attunement and sensitive responsiveness are crucial for a child to feel recognized and for synchronizing early conversations. The authors previously presented the Diagnostic…

This article demonstrates the effectiveness of applying the Diagnostic Intervention Model for fostering harmonious interactions by describing a single-case study. Changes in the caregiver's turn-giving had substantial effects on the child's turn-taking, regulation of intensity, and approving and disapproving answers. The interaction effects were…

This article describes the application of the Diagnostic Intervention Model and its effects in two case studies of 3-year-old boys, Rolf and Ruud, using individual interaction coaching with their mothers. Positive effects were found for all the target categories in both cases, although an interaction that used materials appeared to be more…

In an earlier publication, we presented the Diagnostic Intervention Model, which can be used as a guide in the design and conduct of interventions to foster harmonious interactions between children who are deaf-blind and their educators. This article demonstrates the use of the model in everyday practice and the effects of its application in two…

This article demonstrates the use of the Diagnostic Intervention Model in everyday practice and the effects of its application in a case study of Kris and his educator using individual coaching. The implications of the case for everyday practice are discussed.

This article presents a diagnostic intervention model as a guide for designing and conducting interventions to foster harmonious interactions between deaf-blind children and their educators in various settings and explicates its theoretical and empirical foundations. The model includes a stated purpose, intervention principles, and a five-step…

This study examined the effects of an intervention program to improve the quality of daily interaction between six congenitally deaf-blind children and their 14 educators (teachers, caregivers, and mothers). With video analysis as the most important tool, the interaction coaches trained the educators to recognize the children's signals and attune…