South African Journal of Childhood Education 6(1):a290 A combined prosodic and linguistic treatment approach for language-communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorders : a proof-of-concept study
Type
E-Journal
Authors
ISSN
2223-7682
Category
ECCE, Foundation, Intermediate, Senior
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Publication Year
2016
Publisher
Aosis OpenJournals, Durbanville, Cape Town, South Africa
URL
[ private ]
Pages
8 p.
Subject
Early childhood education, Primary education, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Prosodically varied speech, Listening skills, Pragmatic skills, Social interaction behaviour, Proof of concept, South Africa
Tags
Abstract
This study aimed to determine whether the use of prosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy framework had any effect on the listening skills, pragmatic skills and social interaction behaviour of three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A single participant multiple baseline design across behaviours was implemented. Three participants with ASD were selected for this research. The listening skills, pragmatic skills and social interaction behaviour of the participants were compared before treatment, after a 3-week period of treatment and after a 2-week withdrawal period from treatment, utilising prosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy approach. Statistical significance was not calculated for each individual due to the limited data, but visual inspection indicated that all the participants showed positive behavioural changes in performance across all areas after 3 weeks of treatment, independent of their pre-treatment performance level. The use of prosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy framework appears to be a viable form of treatment for children with ASD.
Description
Article
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1