Implementation and Intervention Practices to Facilitate Communication Skills for a Child With Complex Communication Needs

Abstract

For children with complex communication needs (CCN), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices offer a means to communicate and participate in daily activities. Effective implementation and intervention practices are needed for supporting teaching teams working with children with CCN to improve child use of AAC. The purpose of this article is to describe two studies examining these issues. Study 1 examined the effects of a behavior skills training (BST) approach to professional development to support a classroom teaching team in the implementation of a behavior support plan for a child with CCN; Study 2 evaluated the effects of a single behavior (adult modeling) on AAC use. Results indicated teachers increased their fidelity with training and coaching, but not with training alone. Further, unprompted use of the AAC device occurred more frequently when an adult modeled use of the device.

Assessing the Implementation Fidelity of Early Interventions: Data Collection Methods

“…In this review, it is observed that starting in 2012, fidelity of implementation practices is more frequently assessed. Seven studies (Chazin, Barton, Ledford, & Pokorski, 2018;Dunst et al, 2013;Lambert, Gallagher, & Abbott-Shim, 2015;Powell & Diamond, 2013;Ruble, 2013;Snyder, Hemmeter, McLean, Sandall, McLaughlin, & Algina, 2018;Wenz-Gross & Upshur, 2012) assessed fidelity of implementation practices and of intervention practices, as well as developmental improvements in children. In most of those studies, the researchers addressed the statistical relationship of two aspects of fidelity and the effects on children.…”

“…First, only two studies (Chazin et al, 2018;Snyder et al, 2018) (2018) collected data on fidelity of implementation practices using a direct observation coding system to assess coaching sessions.…”

“…On-site (15/26) or video (16/26) observation is the most common collection method utilized. In assessing fidelity of intervention or implementation practices, three trends are apparent for time points and frequency of observations: 1) eight studies (Bierman et al, 2014;Chazin et al, 2018;Domitrovich et al, 2010;Guo et al, 2016;Hamre et al, 2010;Powell & Diamfond, 2013;Snyder et al, 2018 (Powell & Diamond, 2013;Strain & Bovey, 2011) as well as before and after (Burns et al, 2012;Zucker et al, 2013) intervention implementation.…”

“…In fact, high frequency of observation time points is a feature of some study designs focused on effects of an intervention. For example, a single-subject study design, such as the one used by Chazin et al (2018), is characterized by the systematic use of repeated observation measures (Fortin, 2016;Lanovaz, 2013).…”

Examining the Role of Paraeducators When Supporting Children With Complex Communication Needs: A Multiple Case Study

“…Communication impacts all aspects of a child’s school day and is an essential skill for learning (Erickson & Geist, 2016). Paraeducators can provide explicit instruction and intentional support to promote such development when the need of the child is great and the available resources of general education teachers and special education are scarce (Chazin, Barton, Ledford, & Pokorski, 2018; Erickson, Hatch, & Clendon, 2010; Musti-Rao & Cartledge, 2007). Children with CCN frequently use an Augmentative or Alternative Communication (AAC) systems or devices to enhance quality of life (Spooner & Browder, 2015).…”