Visual Supports to Increase Conversation Engagement for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder During Mealtimes: An Initial Investigation

Abstract

The diversity of children within the preschool classroom is dramatically changing as children with autism spectrum disorder are increasingly included within it. To engage in the benefits of inclusion, social skills are needed. Yet, children with autism commonly experience difficulties in this area. Extant literature indicates that social skills are more successfully acquired when taught through naturalistic and embedded instruction in established routines. A commonly occurring routine in most classroom, home, and community settings is mealtime. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Snack Talk, a visual communication support, for increasing the communication engagement of five preschool children with autism. A reversal design across participants was used to analyze the relation between Snack Talk and conversation engagement. Results from the maintenance probes show that conversation engagement increased across all participants when compared to baseline. Furthermore, a functional relation was established between the teaching phase (baseline and intervention data collection phases) and the maintenance phase. Limitations and directions for further research are also discussed.

Keeping Teachers Engaged during Non-Instructional Times: An Analysis of the Effects of a Naturalistic Intervention

“…A robust literature base identifies positive outcomes of inclusive, blended classrooms for children with and without disabilities [2][3][4][5][6]. Among others, these outcomes include increased academic achievement, strong relationships within the classroom, as well as community membership and growth of overall classroom community [3,5,[7][8][9]]. Yet, simply placing children with and without disabilities in the same classroom does not automatically ensure inclusion and the associated outcomes.…”

“…When targeting social communication and language outcomes, naturalistic interventions often involve environmental arrangements designed to foster engagement of learners as language partners [7,25] while adults evoke, model, and reinforce novel language usage within functional contexts [26] to support a social feedback loop. Support of a social feedback loop has been theorized to be especially critical for children with ASD who already experience language and communication difficulties [27,28].…”

“…One example of a naturalistic intervention that is embedded in mealtime is Snack Talk [7,25,41,42]. In this intervention, a visual support intervention package (i.e., modeling, prompting, and reinforcement) is used during the natural routine of mealtime to prompt social exchanges and conversation among children.…”

“…Although the Snack Talk procedure is aimed at increasing the engagement of students, the interactions it occasions among the teachers are an equally important outcome. As such, we examined the efficacy of Snack Talk in supporting and increasing the conversation engagement of five preschoolers with each other [7] as well as the effects of the implementation training and intervention on the teacher engagement with these children. Data regarding childlevel outcomes of the implementation of Snack Talk procedures in an early intervention preschool classroom have been presented and discussed in Bateman and colleagues [7].…”

“…As such, we examined the efficacy of Snack Talk in supporting and increasing the conversation engagement of five preschoolers with each other [7] as well as the effects of the implementation training and intervention on the teacher engagement with these children. Data regarding childlevel outcomes of the implementation of Snack Talk procedures in an early intervention preschool classroom have been presented and discussed in Bateman and colleagues [7]. This paper presents teacher-level outcomes of the implementation of Snack Talk procedures in an early intervention preschool classroom.…”