TY - JOUR
T1 - Early Communication and Microtechnology
T2 - Instructional Sequence and Case Studies of Children with Severe Multiple Disabilities
AU - Schweigert, Philip
AU - Rowland, Charity
N1 - Funding Information:
This research and the preparation of this manuscript were supported in part by U.S. Department of Education grant #G08730413 awarded to Charity Rowland of Oregon Research Institute. We acknowledge the contributions of Heather Megyesi, Betty Brummett, and Anna P. Pittioni to this research project. We also extend a special thanks to the children and families who participated in the project.
PY - 1992/1/1
Y1 - 1992/1/1
N2 - Teachers and speech-language pathologists serving children who have dual sensory impairments combined with severe orthopedic impairments are often at a loss as to how to provide effective communication instruction. No systematic approach has been available to guide teachers through the intricacies of what is necessarily a difficult process. This paper describes the results of a 3-year investigation of the use of microtechnology to enable children with dual sensory impairments and severe orthopedic impairments to communicate. We present here an instructional sequence that applies across the wide variety of children who participated in the investigation. Some of these children initially appeared to have no voluntary behavior at all: others were able to produce some intentional motor behaviors, but these were not under any clear stimulus control; while others had some primitive but unreliable means of signalling, such as gross vocalizations. By the end of the project, all of these children had shown an ability to learn and had acquired new communication skills, ranging from signalling for attention to indicating a choice. Three case studies are provided to illustrate the use of the instructional sequence.
AB - Teachers and speech-language pathologists serving children who have dual sensory impairments combined with severe orthopedic impairments are often at a loss as to how to provide effective communication instruction. No systematic approach has been available to guide teachers through the intricacies of what is necessarily a difficult process. This paper describes the results of a 3-year investigation of the use of microtechnology to enable children with dual sensory impairments and severe orthopedic impairments to communicate. We present here an instructional sequence that applies across the wide variety of children who participated in the investigation. Some of these children initially appeared to have no voluntary behavior at all: others were able to produce some intentional motor behaviors, but these were not under any clear stimulus control; while others had some primitive but unreliable means of signalling, such as gross vocalizations. By the end of the project, all of these children had shown an ability to learn and had acquired new communication skills, ranging from signalling for attention to indicating a choice. Three case studies are provided to illustrate the use of the instructional sequence.
KW - aided communication
KW - dual sensory impairment
KW - instructional techniques
KW - multiple disabilities
KW - physical impairment
KW - single subject design, technology
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U2 - 10.1080/07434619212331276313
DO - 10.1080/07434619212331276313
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84961425330
SN - 0743-4618
VL - 8
SP - 273
EP - 286
JO - Augmentative and Alternative Communication
JF - Augmentative and Alternative Communication
IS - 4
ER -