Language Development and Intervention
- Language
* It’s what allows us to talk, read, write, understand what others say, and learn about the world.
Semantics
• Meanings/understanding words and how they relate to one another
• Children who are talked to more by adults…develop larger vocabularies
o Adults talk less frequently with/to children with CCN
• Individual with CCN’s external lexicon may not reflect internal lexicon
• Others choose vocabulary on displays
Semantics
- Individuals with CCN rarely receive symbol feedback from partners
- Less “convergence” between semantic and conceptual organization in some graphic symbols sets/systems than others (explained more later)
- Individuals with CCN have ability to fast map (acquire new vocabulary words rapidly)
Syntax
• Sentence structure/rules for putting words into sentences
• Most common syntactic characteristics of individuals with CCN:
o Predominance of one- or two-word messages
o Prevalence of simple clauses
o Constituent word orders that differ from individual’s spoken language background
o Omission of words (verbs and articles)
o Extensive use of multimodal combinations, word overextensions, other metalinguistic strategies that compensate for lack of needed symbols
Reasons for Syntactic Characteristics
• Page 257 and 258
Morphology
- Rules for building and changing words
* Research shows that individuals with CCN have difficulties with both receptive and expressive morphology
4 Explanations
- Symbols needed to indicate plural, possessive, etc. may not be available
- Individuals choose efficiency over accuracy for enhancing speed
- Individuals are not taught the morphological rules
- The AAC modality itself influences output and precludes the need for conventional English morphemes (Example. Girl sitting in the chair.)
Pragmatics
• Use/Rules of language
• Include
o Request, comment, repair/clarify, reject/protest, solicit information
• Individuals who use AAC tend to be restricted primarily to responses and requests. Are often respondents, seldom initiate, have utterances only as long as necessary to convey message
Reasons for Those Characteristics
• Conversational asymmetry
o Imbalance of conversational “power”
Summary
- Language-learning experiences are different from those individuals who can speak
- “How can we know…?”
- Page 260
Supporting Language Learning and Development
Symbols and Language
- Certain symbol approaches facilitate language development:
- Proponents of Blissymbolics
- Some individuals who rely on AAC symbols, regardless of the type, develop complex, generative language whereas others do not.
- Find ways to integrate manual signs, photos, pictures, digital images, and formal symbol sets into AAC systems that are highly motivating, interactive, individualized, and designed to support language and literacy.
Organizational Strategies
2 Main Types:
• Grid Displays – individual symbols, words, and/or phrases are arranged in a grid pattern based on an organizational scheme
• Visual Scene Displays – events, people, objects, and related actions are in a contextual scene with hotspots embedded with vocabulary
Grid Displays
- Semantic-Syntactic – organized according to the parts of speech and their relationships within the syntactic framework (evidence does not show this type supports language learning)
- Taxonomic – grouping according to superordinate categories such as people, places, feelings, foods, drinks, and action words (maybe for children 6-7 and older)- (e.g. Proloquo to go)
Grid Displays
- Activity – organized according to event schemes, routines, or activities aka schematic grid layouts (Wouldn’t we need to use the same words within different activities?)
- PODD – Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display combines a number of vocab organization strategies to support communication for different functions
VSDs
• Contain symbols that are associated with specific activities or routines (Research shows VSDs are easier for young, typically developing children to learn and use than activity and taxonomic grid displays. Research also shows that children with developmental disabilities and adults with moderate-to-severe aphasia benefit from this type of display.)
Hybrid Displays
• Combine both VSD and grid layouts
Message Units
- One symbol equals one paragraph (DynaVox)
- One symbol equals one morpheme marker (PRC)
• And anywhere in between (Proloquo2Go)
How does use of different message lengths affect language development?
- Almost no research has examined this issue to date.
- Make decisions on individual basis.
- Use both long and short (Page 268)
Explicit Instruction
• Small teaching units (trials) o Stimulus o Prompt o Correct response by learner o Reinforcer • Model on device • Recast – more complete/correct form
Incidental Teaching
- Page 270
- Mand-model
- Expectant time delay
- Missing/out-of-reach item
- Incomplete presentation
- Interrupted behavior chain
- Wrong-item format
Conversational Coaching
- Person with CCN is prompted to initiate a conversation by pointing to picture, remnant, or symbol to ask a question or comment.
- Conversational partner responds to the question or comment, adds a comment, and asks another question.
- Partner prompts person with CCN to answer question, comment as desired and ask another question.
- Fade prompts over time
- Research says use with school-age children and adolescents with developmental disabilities to teach initiation and maintenance of conversations
Conversational Coaching
- May teach family members and peers – generalization to other environments
- Sometimes more receptive to family/peers than clinician
Strategy Instruction
- Define goal to be taught
- Explain skill and its importance
- Demonstrate how to use skill, have person observe skill with narration
- Have person/family member think of when they’d use the skill
- Create situations for person to use skill
- Provide guided practice
- Evaluate progress
- Conduct probes in novel settings to evaluate generalization
Language Modeling
- Aided Language Stimulation
- System for Augmenting Language
- Aided Language Modeling
