Recent publications have highlighted key issues in the application of AAC for beginning communicators, both children 0-3 years old and older children, and adults who are developing communication skills typical of that age group (Reichle, Beukelman, & Light, 2002). AAC includes a progression of communication skills from early behaviors to symbolic
The purpose of the present study was to document the development and standardization of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale and to examine its factor structure, internal consistency, and criterion validity. Data from a nationally representative sample (N = 1,471) of preschool children with and without disabilities were collected. An exploratory factor analysis identified four factors: Emotional Regulation, School Readiness, Social Confidence, and Family Involvement. The subscales and total instrument appear remarkably stable and consistent (.838 to .983). Age differences across 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds were small in magnitude, although girls were rated as possessing significantly more strengths than boys. Preschool children with disabilities were seen as having less emotional and behavioral strength than their peers without disabilities. The limitations and future research needs are discussed.
Children with disabilities are reported to experience a high degree of directive parent interaction compared to typically developing children because of poor communicative or task skills. This study examines relationships between parent behaviors (directiveness and contingency) and child skills (language and motor) for children with physical or neuromotor impairments at risk for being nonspeaking during undirected incidental play. The only correlation between parent behavior and child developmental status was between physical directiveness and child motor scores. Previous reports of high directiveness that increase with degree of disability might be attributable to task instructions during object play, in which high physical directiveness would be required for this population.
This study compared longitudinal changes in mastery motivation during parent-child free play for 37 children with complex communication needs. Mastery motivation manifests as a willingness to work hard at tasks that are challenging, which is an important quality to overcoming the challenges involved in successful expressive communication using AAC. Unprompted parent-child play episodes were identified in three assessment sessions over an 18-month period and coded for nine categories of mastery motivation in social and object play. All of the object-oriented mastery motivation categories and one social mastery motivation category showed an influence of motor skills after controlling for receptive language. Object play elicited significantly more of all of the object-focused mastery motivation categories than social play, and social play elicited more of one type of social-focused mastery motivation behavior than object play. Mastery motivation variables did not differ significantly over time for children. Potential physical and interpersonal influences on mastery motivation for parents and children with complex communication needs are discussed, including broadening the procedures and definitions of mastery motivation beyond object-oriented measurements for children with complex communication needs.
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