title: The Classroom Observation Schedule to Measure Intentional Communication (COSMIC): an observational measure of the intentional communication of children with autism in an unstructured classroom setting.
abstract: The Classroom Observation Schedule to Measure Intentional Communication (COSMIC) was devised to provide ecologically valid outcome measures for a communication-focused intervention trial. Ninety-one children with autism spectrum disorder aged 6 years 10 months (SD 16 months) were videoed during their everyday snack, teaching and free play activities. Inter-rater reliability was high and relevant items showed significant associations with comparable items from concurrent Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (Lord et al. 2000, J Autism Dev Disord 30(3):205-223) assessments. In a subsample of 28 children initial differences in rates of initiations, initiated speech/vocalisation and commenting were predictive of language and communication competence 15 months later. Results suggest that the use of observational measures of intentional communication in natural settings is a valuable assessment strategy for research and clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Science, St George's University of London, London, UK. gp310@medschl.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pasco
authors.forename: Rosanna K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Howlin
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Charman
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003147:Communication Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D019370:Observation; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012919:Social Behavior; D014741:Video Recording; D014825:Vocabulary