Constructing narratives to describe video events using aided communication

Narratives are a pervasive form of discourse and a rich source for exploring a range of language and cognitive skills. The limited research base to date suggests that narratives generated using aided communication may be structurally simple, and that features of cohesion and reference may be lacking. This study reports on the analysis of narratives generated in interactions involving aided communication in response to short, silent, video vignettes depicting events with unintended or unexpected consequences. Two measures were applied to the data: the Narrative Scoring Scheme and the Narrative Analysis Profile. A total of 15 participants who used aided communication interacted with three different communication partners (peers, parents, professionals) relaying narratives about three video events. Their narratives were evaluated with reference to narratives of 15 peers with typical development in response to the same short videos and to the narratives that were interpreted by their communication partners. Overall, the narratives generated using aided communication were shorter and less complete than those of the speaking peers, but they incorporated many similar elements. Topic maintenance and inclusion of scene-setting elements were consistent strengths. Communication partners offered rich interpretations of aided narratives. Relative to the aided narratives, these interpreted narratives were typically structurally more complete and cohesive and many incorporated more elaborated semantic content. The data reinforce the robust value of narratives in interaction and their potential for showcasing language and communication achievements in aided communication.Peer reviewe

Prevalence of treated autism spectrum disorders in Aruba

To study autism outside of a narrow range of settings previously studied, and in a particularly distinctive setting in the Caribbean. The aim of the Aruba Autism Project was to determine the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in birth years 1990–1999 in Aruba. A record review study was conducted; cases were ascertained from children treated at the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic of Aruba, the first and only child psychiatry service on the island. In these 10 birth years we found a prevalence for autistic disorder (AD) of 1.9 per 1,000 (95% CI 1.2–2.8) and for autism spectrum disorders of 5.3 per 1,000 (95% CI 4.1–6.7). Comparison analysis with a cumulative incidence report from the UK, showed a similar cumulative incidence to age five in Aruba. Prevalence of ASDs in birth years 1990–1999 and cumulative incidence to age five in Aruba are similar to recent reports from the United Kingdom and the United States

Aided communication, mind understanding and co-construction of meaning

Mind understanding allows for the adaptation of expressive language to a listener and is a core element when communicating new information to a communication partner. There is limited knowledge about the relationship between aided language and mind understanding. This study investigates this relationship using a communication task. The participants were 71 aided communicators using graphic symbols or spelling for expression (38/33 girls/boys) and a reference group of 40 speaking children (21/19 girls/boys), aged 5;0-15;11 years. The task was to describe, but not name, drawings to a communication partner. The partner could not see the drawing and had to infer what was depicted from the child's explanation. Dyads with aided communicators solved fewer items than reference dyads (64% vs 93%). The aided spellers presented more precise details than the symbol users (46% vs 38%). In the aided group, number of correct items correlated with verbal comprehension and age.Peer reviewe

The concurrent and predictive validity of the Dutch version of the Communicative Development Inventory in children with Down Syndrome for the assessment of expressive vocabulary in verbal and signed modalities

The expressive vocabulary of children with Down Syndrome (DS) is generally measured with parental reports, such as the Communicative Development Inventory (CDI), given that standardized tests for assessing vocabulary levels may be too difficult for most young children with DS. The CDI provides important insight into the parents’ perception of their child’s vocabulary development. The CDI has proven to be a valid measurement of expressive vocabulary, spoken and gestural, in typical and atypical populations. The validity in children with DS is not well established and signed vocabulary is often not included. This longitudinal study examined the concurrent and predictive validity of the Dutch version of the CDI (N-CDI) in children with DS between 2;0 and 7;6 years old to assess spoken and signed vocabulary. N-CDI scores were assessed on strength of association with mental age,an expressive vocabulary test and spontaneous language analyses in a play setting with parents at T1 and T2 (1.5 years later), and a therapy setting with speech language pathologists at T1. The results of the present study show that the N-CDI is a valuable and valid measurement of expressive vocabulary in children with DS. Strengths and weaknesses of several assessment methods for expressive vocabulary are discussed

Communication performance of children with Down Syndrome: An ICF-CY based multiple case study

Enhancing communication performance skills may help children with Down Syndrome (DS) to expand their opportunities for participation in daily life. It is a clinical challenge for speech-language pathologists (SLP) to disentangle various mechanisms that contribute to the language and communication problems that children with DS encounter. Without clarity of different levels of functioning, appropriate interventions may be poorly conceived or improperly implemented. In the present study, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY) framework was used to classify contributing factors to communication performance in a multiple case study of six young children with DS. Within a comprehensive assessment, we identified individual and environmental facilitators and barriers, leading to an integrative profile of communication performance (IPCP) for each child. Whereas these six children shared a developmental, and/or expressive vocabulary age and/or level of communicative intent, the children faced similar but also unique personal and environmental factors that play an important role in their communication performance. Our data reveal that a combination of different factors may lead to the same language outcomes and vice versa, based on a unique pattern of interdependency of ICF-CY domains. Planning SLP interventions for enhancing communication performance in children with DS should therefore be based on a comprehensive view on the competences and limitations of every individual child and its significant communication partners. This evaluation should address facilitators and barriers in body functions, structures, activities, participation and environment, with a specific focus on individual strengths. The ICF-CY provides a useful framework for constructing an IPCP that serves this purpose

Predictors of receptive and expressive vocabulary development in children with Down syndrome

<p><i>Purpose</i>: There is a lack of longitudinal data on predictors of vocabulary development in children with Down syndrome (DS). In typically developing children, many internal and external predictors of vocabulary development have been determined before. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of these variables in the receptive and expressive vocabulary development of children with DS.</p> <p><i>Method</i>: The present study used a longitudinal design in young children with DS to study the vocabulary development over a period of 1.6 years and investigated the possible predictive role of child-related and environmental variables.</p> <p><i>Result</i>: Receptive vocabulary development was best predicted by the adaptive level of functioning and early receptive vocabulary skills. Expressive vocabulary development was best predicted by the adaptive level of functioning, receptive vocabulary, maternal educational level, level of communicative intent of the child, attention skills and phonological/phonemic awareness.</p> <p><i>Conclusion</i>: A wide range of internal and external predictors for vocabulary development of children with DS was found. Predictors resemble those predicting vocabulary development in peers with typical development between 1 and 6 years of age, as identified in other studies.</p

LinguaBytes:An interactive, tangible play and learning device to enhance early language and literacy development for young children with multiple disabilities

Children with multiple disabilties are confronted with severe limitations in language and literacy development at early age. AAC integrated in a computer-based, interactive play-/learning device with tangible objects and a program based on interactive story-telling and anchored instruction enhances and improves opportunities for an earlier and more effective breakthrough to language and literacy competences. This product, called LinguaBytes, will be developed in a three-year research project for multiple disabled children at pre-school age.</p

Explorascope: Stimulation of language and communicative skills of multiple-handicapped children through an interactive, adaptive educational toy

Very young non- or hardly speaking children with severe disabilities need active guidance to stimulate interaction with their environment in order to develop their communicative and linguistic skills. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems can help this process, provided that they are tuned to this specific user group. LinguaBytes is a research programme, which aims at developing an interactive and adaptive educational toy that stimulates the language and communicative skills of multiplehandicapped children with a developmental age of 1 – 4 years. In this article we show which guidelines we consider essential for developing this tool. We have developed several concepts based on these guidelines, of which we elucidate Explorascope (E-scope). E-scope consists of a tangible toy-like interface that is adaptable to an individual child with respect to his or her cognitive, linguistic, emotional and perceptual-motor skills. A first user test shows that E-scope is promising and useful for this user group.Industrial DesignIndustrial Design Engineerin