A Review of Communication Intervention Programs for People with Developmental Disabilities

In search of a novel way to analyze early communicative behavior

The aim of this study was to develop a coding scheme that enables researchers and practitioners to conduct a detailed analysis of the communicative behavior of young children with significant cognitive and motor developmental delays. Currently, there is a paucity of methods to do conduct such an analysis. For the study, video observations of three different scenarios from 38 children with significant cognitive and motor developmental delays aged between 12 and 54 months, were used. Findings from the video observations served as the primary means for development of the coding scheme, which comprises three main categories - context, partner behavior, and individual behavior - and several subcategories. The coding scheme was used to document the early expressive communicative behavior of persons with significant cognitive and motor developmental delays in a detailed manner. This fine-grained information is necessary to differentiate children based on their communicative abilities, to monitor their communicative development longitudinally, and to inform person-centered communicative interventions.

Validating and Applying the CSBS-ITC in Neurogenetic Syndromes

Although social communication skills are commonly delayed in children with neurogenetic syndromes (NGS), skill profiles in very young children are largely under characterized, in part due to the lack of validated assessment measures appropriate for these populations. We addressed this gap by validating and applying a popular early social communication screening measure, the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile - Infant-Toddler Checklist (CSBS-ITC) in three previously understudied neurogenetic groups: Angelman, Prader-Willi, and Williams syndromes. Our results suggest that when used within the appropriate scope of screening and surveillance, the CSBS-ITC detects meaningful variability in skills across ages in young children with NGS and may provide useful information about both individual- and population-level social communication profiles in these populations.

Training Direct-Care Staff to Provide Communication Intervention to Adults With Intellectual Disability: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

The aim of this review was to summarize and evaluate studies on training direct-care staff to provide communication intervention to adults with intellectual disability.

METHOD

Systematic searches identified 22 studies. These were summarized and evaluated in terms of (a) participants; (b) settings; (c) training aims and procedures; (d) research designs; (e) reliability, integrity, and social validity; (f) outcomes; (g) generalization and follow-up; and (h) certainty of evidence.

RESULTS

A total of 437 staff and 254+ adults with intellectual disability participated. Staff training most frequently involved combinations of verbal instruction, role play, modeling, practice, and feedback. Reliability was assessed in 18 studies with acceptable standards for most of these studies. Treatment integrity and social validity were assessed in 1 and 3 studies, respectively, with positive outcomes. Generalization and maintenance were assessed in 5 and 8 studies, respectively, with predominantly positive outcomes. Most studies reported positive outcomes for staff and positive or mixed outcomes for the adults with intellectual disability. Certainty of evidence was rated as conclusive in 1 study, suggestive in 14 studies, and inconclusive in 7 studies.

CONCLUSIONS

There is sufficient evidence to conclude that direct-care staff can be taught to provide effective communication intervention to adults with intellectual disability. Professionals involved in providing training and support to direct-care staff could expect positive outcomes from multicomponent training programs that include opportunities for practice and feedback.

Communicative functioning in individuals with Angelman syndrome: a comparative study

PURPOSE

To assess expressive communication in individuals with Angelman syndrome.

METHOD

Communicative functioning of individuals with Angelman syndrome (AS) (n = 109) was compared with individuals with mixed etiologies (n = 117) using the Verbal Behaviour Assessment Scale (VerBAS).

RESULTS

Within-group analyses of those with AS revealed that the communicative function of manding was significantly more developed than tacting and echoing, and that tacting was significantly more developed than echoing. Low mean total VerBAS-scores were found with individuals who had epilepsy and used anticonvulsant medication, and with those who had profound developmental disabilities. In the comparison group, the function of manding was significantly more developed than both tacting and echoing, while tacting did not differ from echoing. Between-groups analyses revealed that individuals with AS had significantly lower scores on tacting and echoing, but not on manding.

CONCLUSION

The overall pattern of VerBAS scores for individuals with AS suggests a possible communicative phenotype.

Caregivers' reflections on their interactions with adult people with learning disabilities

People with learning disabilities and their professional carers often have difficulty interacting. The aim of this study was to illuminate carers' reflections on their interactions with adult people with learning disabilities. In a previous study, interactions between 16 carers and 11 residents with learning disabilities were recorded on video. In this study, stimulated recall interviews about the interactions were carried out with all the carers. The text was analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that the carers reflected on both successful and unsuccessful interaction. Examples of successful interaction included understanding cues, satisfying needs, and managing challenging behaviours, and the carers reflected on the influences that successful interaction had on security, confidence, and satisfaction among the residents. Examples of unsuccessful interaction included failing to understand cues, failing to satisfy needs and failing to manage challenging behaviours, and the carers reflected on the consequences of such interaction, which included irritation, aggression and violence among the residents. Our findings have implications for interventions aimed at strengthening the competence of carers and developing strategies for managing challenging behaviour, in order to ensure high-quality care and a good working climate.