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Plain, Marianne Elisabeth

Communication Sciences

2005

MS

Purpose: This investigation examined the Unconventional Verbal Behavior (UVB) produced by young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) during peer play intervention. UVB was analyzed with respect to type, function, and peer response. Additionally, the number of UVB productions was compared to the amount of time the child with ASD was engaged with their typical peer. Method: This investigation utilized data from an on-going study looking at peer play intervention for children with ASD. The participants in this investigation included two dyads from the larger study, each consisting of one child with ASD and one typically developing peer. The peer play study is an A-B-A-B-A single subject treatment design with follow-up. The project occurred over a 15 week period. Three baseline sessions where the child with ASD and a typical peer meet at the home of the child with ASD without the support of an adult interventionist (A), were followed by five intervention sessions with an adult interventionist (B). These phases of study were followed by a single withdrawal from intervention session with no adult interventionist (A), five additional intervention sessions (B), and a final single withdrawal from intervention session (A). The intervention sessions took place in the home of the child with ASD, where the interventionist facilitated the play of the child with ASD and his typically developing peer. Each thirty minute baseline and intervention session was videotaped and then transcribed for nonverbal and verbal communication displayed by the two children and the interventionist, as well as noncommunicative vocalizations and actions. For the purposes of this investigation, the transcripts were coded for the presence of a UVE. Each utterance documented as a UVB was then further coded for type as pure immediate echolalia, mitigated immediate echolalia, or perseverative speech. Each UVB was also coded for function as either interactive or non-interactive. Finally, the response of the typically developing peer to each UVB produced by the child with ASD was categorized as either relevant or irrelevant. Additionally, this investigation looked at the relationship between UVB and time engaged with the typically developing peer. Results: Results revealed that the number of UVBs remained consistent over the 15 week peer play intervention for both children, but increases in UVB were associated with increased engagement with a peer, collapsed across sessions. Consistent with previous research, the majority of UVB displayed by both children with ASD was interactive in nature. Typical peer responses to UVB revealed that both children responded contingently more often than noncontingently to the UVB of their peers with ASD. Additionally, for one dyad, a trend was noted over time, where more contingent responses were noted at the conclusion of the intervention than at the outset. Clinical Implications: Intervention in establishing meaningful peer interactions for children with ASD is a crucial component of any therapeutic program, particularly considering the deficits in social interaction experienced by children with ASD. Contingent conversational turns are essential to positive social, cognitive, and linguistic outcomes. Therefore, peer-mediated intervention should contain specific components geared toward teaching typical peers to regard UVB displayed by children with ASD as interactive, and respond to it contingently.