We Need to Talk: A Study Measuring the Impact of an Innovative AAC Intervention on Conversation Management Skills in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Abstract
There is a need for evidence-based interventions for adults with ASD to improve their conversation management skills. There is also a need for innovation in measure development in order to precisely measure conversation management skills among those with pragmatic language impairment. The present study evaluated an intervention called We Need to Talk Therapy that targets the following conversation management skills: Contingent Recoding, Contingent Expansion, Topic Initiation, Topic Maintenance, Topic Closure, Noncontingent Speech, and Inappropriate Behavior. The intervention was administered in a community-based setting by trained conversation partners. The study compared an intervention group with a waitlist control group, and groups were matched according to participants’ ASD severity. Conversation management scores were compared between groups over the twelve-week intervention, and results demonstrated significant effects of the intervention on Contingent Expansion, as well as large effect sizes for Contingent Recoding, Contingent Expansion and Noncontingent Speech. The current study also found support for instructors’ fidelity to the We Need to Talk Implementation Fidelity Protocol (IFP). Lastly, the present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Discourse Management Skills Protocol (DMSP), an innovative observational assessment of conversation management skills. Results demonstrated support for interrater reliability and concurrent validity of the DMSP.
Subject Area
Speech therapy|Developmental psychology|Special education|Disability studies
Recommended Citation
Leeder, Amanda A, "We Need to Talk: A Study Measuring the Impact of an Innovative AAC Intervention on Conversation Management Skills in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders" (2020). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI27959530.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI27959530
