Research shows that conversations and daily interaction among teachers and children is crucial for their development. Observing children and interpreting their thinking processes is a significant factor in intentionally planning curriculum that emerges from children's thinking, assists them in making connections, and extends their learning. This…

Purpose: Elementary-aged peers often need support for them to have positive interactions with classmates with autism who are minimally speaking (i.e., fewer than 30 functional spoken words). This study examined whether peers could learn to use responsive interaction strategies to support inclusive play and communication within a peer network…

Interventions designed for children with disabilities and their families should be socially valid. Parent-implemented Communication Strategies-Storybook (PiCSS) is an intervention package designed to coach parents on shared storybook reading and naturalistic teaching strategies. In PiCSS program, the participating parents used the communication…

Family-centered practices that build caregiver capacity are a central focus of early intervention services for young children with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of adapting the "Parents Interacting with Infants" (PIWI) facilitated playgroup model to target effective communication strategies for…

Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of…

Background: Features of dysarthria associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), such as low volume, variable rate of speech and increased pauses, impact speaker intelligibility. Those affected report restricted interactional participation, although this area is under explored. Aims: To examine naturally occurring instances of problems with…

Children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder may find the social aspects of learning particularly challenging because of the traits of diffculty with social communication and interaction. This paper evaluates the impact of an interactive model designed to support social communication and interaction for twelve students with ASD, who…

Children with Angelman syndrome (AS) exhibit significant social, communicative and cognitive difficulties. The aim of this case study was to describe the profile of communicative abilities of a child with AS, before and after the implementation of the Hanen program "More than Words" (MTW). Additionally, changes on the language directed…

Mentoring is a trusting, developmental supervisory relationship whose success largely depends on participants' interpersonal abilities. Feedback interventions with mentees commonly present interactional challenges to maintaining that relationship, yet are integral to any teaching-learning context. In this study we examined whether and how two key,…

Paraeducators are frequent communication partners for young children with complex communication needs (CCN) in early childhood settings. This study examined the impact of instruction to paraeducators in two communication interaction strategies (IPLAN [Identify activities for communication, Provide means for communication, Locate and provide…

Sensory disabilities may limit a person's development of intersubjectivity, that is, the awareness of self and other, which develops in conjunction with interpersonal communication. This study used intersubjectivity theory to test a new intervention called the High-Quality Communication (HQC) intervention for its effects on a young adult with…

Communication partners who efficiently use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are essential interaction partners for children learning to communicate using AAC. This systematic review examines studies targeting interventions designed to help communication partners support children with complex communication needs who use AAC.…

A dual language learner (DLL) is a young child who is exposed to and is acquiring two or more languages. Multilingualism is common worldwide, and even in countries like the United States, the number of young children who are DLLs is rising rapidly (Goldstein, 2011; Toppelberg, Snow, & Tager-Flusberg, 1999). The purpose of this article is to:…

There are many different approaches to intervention aimed at facilitating the social and communicative abilities of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Behavioural interventions seek to improve the social and communicative abilities of children with ASD through interaction. Recently there has been a move towards naturalistic…

Social initiations make up a core deficit for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In particular, initiated questions during social interactions are often minimal or absent in this population. In the context of a multiple baseline design, the efficacy of using the motivational procedures of Pivotal Response Treatment to increase social…