Chapter 3

This chapter will provide an overview of practical theories related to communication and describe some specific methods that educators and parents can use to promote communication with young children. Typical language development will be discussed, followed by a section on the importance of early intervention when delays are suspected. Screening tools, assessments, and curriculums designed to increase speech will be highlighted along with examples of strategies that can be useful in developing communication skills. The methods discussed to increase speech and appropriate social interactions will be selected from a behavioral perspective. Furthermore, technological devices and applications designed to elicit speech will be provided.

  • Contrast the nativist approach to language and the behaviorist approach.
  • Discuss the difference between receptive language and expressive language and then give an example of each.
  • What is early intervention (EI) and why is it important for children to receive EI?
  1. Assessment
    Gathering information to make decisions.
  2. Assistive, augmentative, and alternative communication
    Devices or technology to assist individuals who are unable or unwilling to vocally communicate.
  3. Early intervention
    This is the universal first line of defense in the treatment and remediation process for children with identifiable risk factors.
  4. Expressive language
    The act of communicating with another person.
  5. Formal assessment
    Standardized assessment used to diagnose.
  6. Individuals with Disabilities Act
    Law mandating that special needs children receive services needed.
  7. Informed assessment
    Screeners, checklists, and interviews completed by caregivers to inform further assessment.
  8. Joint attention
    Combined efforts of two people sharing a focal point to get a child to engage with an adult. This typically involves eye-gaze shifting and may also involve gesturing.
  9. Nativist
    Development of language is innate and occurs without a social context.
  10. Non-nativist
    Language and cognition affect one another. The child plays an active role, and language is acquired through social encounters.
  11. Receptive language
    Comprehension of spoken words or other communicative needs.
  12. Social mores
    These are general customs that are practiced by a particular group of people.
  13. Social nuances
    These refer to unspoken rules that are generally practiced by people when communicating, and help to make communication more understandable.
  14. Verbal operants
    Termed by Skinner, verbal operants are language as being mediated by a listener. These include mands, tacts, echoics, and intraverbals.

 

VB-MAPP: www.marksundberg.com/vb-mapp.htm

Charlop-Christy, M. H., Carpenter, M., Le, L., LeBlanc, L. A., & Kellet, K. (2002). Using picture exchange communication systems (PECS) with children with autism: Assessment of PECS acquisition, speech, social-communicative behavior, and problem behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 213–231.

Department of Health. (2002). Report of the recommendations communication disorders. Retrieved September 4, 2014, from www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/disorders/

Jones, E. A., & Carr, E. G. (2004). Joint attention in children with autism: Theory and intervention. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 19, 13–26. DOI: 10.1177/10883576040190010301

Kail, M. (2011). The study of early comprehension in language development: New methods, findings and issues. Language, Interaction & Acquisition, 2(1), 13–36. DOI:10.1075/lia.2.1.01kai

Supporting communication in early childhood is critical to the success of the individual child’s academic and social future. At the very basic level communication is how teachers and parents relay information to the child and the process by which they gauge the child’s level of comprehension. Communication comes in a variety of forms, from sign language to gestures, to approximations of words, and ultimately audible, fluent language that is comprehensive in nature and results in obtaining desired actions from others. In an effort to understand the reciprocal nature of language, many theorists have posited ideas about the natural progressions, which are discussed above. However, when it comes to actually teaching and facilitating language development, the current research base is rooted in behavioral techniques that involve modeling, shaping approximation of words, prompting, and establishing an environment that is ripe for language. The strategies listed above are all behaviorally based and the effectiveness of each individual treatment package discussed is based on the integrity with which they are implemented, followed through, and monitored over time.