Examining communication repairs of 2 young children with autism spectrum disorder: the influence of the environment.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the repair strategies of 2 young children with autism spectrum disorder from an environmental rather than a developmental perspective.


METHODS
A scripted protocol that included opportunities for requests and repair was followed. The environmental variables investigated were activity type (e.g., puzzle, shapes, book) and breakdown type (i.e., request for clarification, wrong response, and ignore). The sessions were videotaped, and each child's behavior was coded.


RESULTS
The results revealed that (a) both participants repaired the majority (70%) of their unsuccessful initial requests and (b) the repair strategies varied across children, activities, and breakdowns.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study suggest that the 2 young children with autism and limited expressive language discriminated among environmental variables (i.e., type of activity and type of breakdown). The participants modified their repair topographies to correspond to changes in the environment. The findings from this study offer ways to enhance assessment and intervention of early communication. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. meadanka@uiuc.edu
Hedda
H
Meadan
James W
JW
Halle
Ruth V
RV
Watkins
Janis G
JG
Chadsey
D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014743:Videotape Recording