The effect of aided language stimulation on vocabulary acquisition in children with little or no functional speech.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the nature and frequency of the aided language stimulation program and determine the effects of a 3-week-long aided language stimulation program on the vocabulary acquisition skills of children with little or no functional speech (LNFS).


METHODS
Four children participated in this single-subject, multiple-probe study across activities. The aided language stimulation program comprised 3 activities: arts and crafts, food preparation, and story time activity. Each activity was repeated over the duration of 5 subsequent sessions. Eight target vocabulary items were taught within each activity. The acquisition of all 24 target items was probed throughout the duration of the 3-week intervention period.


RESULTS
The frequency and nature of the aided language stimulation provided met the criterion of being used 70% of the time and providing aided language stimulation with an 80:20 ratio of statements to questions. The results indicated that all 4 participants acquired the target vocabulary items. There were, however, variations in the rate of acquisition.


CONCLUSIONS
This study explores the impact of aided language stimulation on vocabulary acquisition in children. The most important clinical implication of this study is that a 3-week intervention program in aided language stimulation was sufficient to facilitate the comprehension of at least 24 vocabulary items in 4 children with LNFS.
Dada
Shakila
S
Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
Alant
Erna
E
D002547:Cerebral Palsy; D002648:Child; D004314:Down Syndrome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D007808:Language Therapy; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013060:Speech; D014825:Vocabulary