title: Concomitant use of the matrix strategy and the mand-model procedure in teaching graphic symbol combinations.
abstract: Matrix strategies employing parts of speech arranged in systematic language matrices and milieu language teaching strategies have been successfully used to teach word combining skills to children who have cognitive disabilities and some functional speech. The present study investigated the acquisition and generalized production of two-term semantic relationships in a new population using new types of symbols. Three children with cognitive disabilities and little or no functional speech were taught to combine graphic symbols. The matrix strategy and the mand-model procedure were used concomitantly as intervention procedures. A multiple probe design across sets of action-object combinations with generalization probes of untrained combinations was used to teach the production of graphic symbol combinations. Results indicated that two of the three children learned the early syntactic-semantic rule of combining action-object symbols and demonstrated generalization to untrained action-object combinations and generalization across trainers. The results and future directions for research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Duquesne University, 412 Fisher Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA. nigam@duq.edu
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nigam
authors.forename: Ralf W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Schlosser
authors.forename: Lyle L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lloyd
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D007808:Language Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D013070:Speech Therapy