The Early Development of Emotional Competence Profile: A Means to Share Information About Emotional Status and Expression by Children With Complex Communication Needs

Abstract

Purpose This clinical focus article introduces a summary profile template, called the Early Development of Emotional Competence Profile (EDEC-P). This profile distills information from a longer interview tool that solicits a detailed case history (the EDEC), but in a format that is readily accessible for communication partners of children with complex communication needs, including parents, educators, and other professionals. Method In this clinical focus article, we will (a) introduce the EDEC-P structure, (b) illustrate via case examples the types of information that can be shared, and (c) offer preliminary feedback from parents and other professionals on its usefulness. We will review literature that supports the importance of scaffolding communication about emotions by specialists who work with children with complex communication needs and by parents and other communication partners. Results An EDEC-P was generated for two participants as an illustration of the process. Feedback was solicited from these children's parents and other communication partners. The feedback demonstrated that the EDEC-P was viewed as a positive tool and identified some of the ways that it might be used. Conclusions The EDEC-P may be useful for professionals who are interested in approaching communication about emotions in children with complex communication needs. Guidelines are proposed to present and discuss the results from the interview to support the decision-making process in the clinical practice and next steps in research. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14219777

Encouraging Emotional Conversations in Children With Complex Communication Needs: An Observational Case Study

“…Sometimes, family effective engagement in interventions may be hindered by logistical barriers like parents’ work schedules ( Brotman et al, 2011 ). Being flexible to the context and understanding the child with CCN, family, and socio-cultural needs and interests are essential in creating appropriate and sensitive interventions that support children’s learning ( Rangel-Rodríguez et al, 2021 ). Systematic observation approaches provide the flexibility needed to studying natural settings and everyday life without losing rigor in the investigation ( Anguera et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Once the mother and child were selected for participation, a semi-structured interview called EDEC, the Early Development of Emotional Competence tool ( Na et al, 2018 ), was conducted between the researcher (the first author) and the mother. The purpose of the interview was to identify the current child’s emotional state and communicative characteristics, as well as some caregivers’ emotional and communicative socio-cultural aspects, in order to support the family better ( Rangel-Rodríguez et al, 2021 ). In this meeting, the researcher explained the study and the importance of recording the storybook reading sessions throughout their participation.…”

“…Children with complex communication needs (CNN) may have impairments in language production and/or comprehension ( Beukelman and Light, 2020 ), resulting from different etiologies such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, developmental disabilities, or speech-language impairment. Recent studies have revealed some evidence that people with CCN often face barriers in expressing and/or understanding emotions, and may have fewer opportunities to talk and learn about emotions ( Na and Wilkinson, 2018 ; Rangel-Rodríguez et al, 2021 ; Wilkinson et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Giving children with CCN access to key and meaningful emotion-related vocabulary, as well as encouraging its usage, is critical to support effective conversations between the children and their communication partners ( Rangel-Rodríguez et al, 2021 ; Wilkinson et al, 2021 ). Nuclear family members are life partners and the primary communication partners in the child’s social networks ( Blackstone and Hunt-Berg, 2012 ); its engagement in children’s healthy development, learning, and emotional well-being are fundamental ( Mandak et al, 2017 ; Lehrl et al, 2020 ).…”

Understanding the Emotional Development of School-aged Children: A Critical Review

“…However, it is wildly accepted that there are six basic emotions young children can perceive and describe: happy, sad, angry, fearful, surprising, and disgusting. School-aged children whose socio-cognitive structures are getting mature are supposed to be able to distinguish more complex emotions that are aggregates of two or more emotions, such as hate and embarrassment [3]. Emotional development is rooted in the larger sociocultural context and is also influenced by subcultures such as family cultures, which means that each individual has a unique style of expressing emotions and ways of perceiving emotions.…”