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Collaborative learning AAC intervention (Boster et al., 2024)

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posted on 2024-03-27, 16:50 authored by Jamie B. Boster, Tori Cordone, Hailey Blosser

Purpose: Children with complex communication needs who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies to express themselves face significant difficulties interaction with peers. This study sought to design, implement, and evaluate a collaborative photography intervention designed to increase reciprocal social interaction between children who use AAC and their same-age peers.

Method: A single-subject, withdrawal design (ABAB) was used to explore the functional relationship between engagement in a collaborative photography intervention and the frequency of reciprocal social interactions between children who use AAC and their same-age peers. Partial-interval time sampling was used to code the number of reciprocal social interactions across four dyads.

Results: Increased frequencies of reciprocal social interactions were observed in intervention phases across all four dyads. Very large levels of effect and 100% nonoverlapping data were noted for Dyads 1 and 4. Moderate levels of effect and 70% of nonoverlapping data were noted for Dyads 2 and 3.

Conclusions: Collaborative learning frameworks may be used to increase reciprocal social interactions between children who use AAC and their peers. Speech-language pathologists should consider utilizing collaborative learning elements in activities with children who use AAC. Future research is needed to further explore collaborative learning frameworks for interventions for children who use AAC.

Supplemental Material S1. Checklists for baseline and intervention phases.

Boster, J. B., Cordone, T., & Blosser, H. (2024). Increasing reciprocal social interactions between children who use augmentative and alternative communication and peers using a collaborative learning framework. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 33(4), 1748–1762. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00405

Funding

The research presented was funded by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation New Investigator’s Research Award in 2020.

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