title: A social communication intervention to increase validating comments by children with language impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Four children identified with language impairment (LI) participated in a social communication intervention to increase the production of validating comments, including making positive statements, sharing information, and asking peers questions about themselves.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case study design was used. Baseline measures were collected from 3 cooperative learning sessions for each participant. The intervention lasted 10 weeks, with 40 (15-min) sessions for 3 of the children and 20 (30-min) sessions for the remaining child. Each week, participants took part in sessions of group instruction, novel peer play, and review with the clinician. Data monitoring the production of validating comments were taken from the novel peer play interactions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One child produced a notable increase in validating comments during intervention, and 2 other participants produced more modest improvement. All 3 maintained these gains in the follow-up sessions. The remaining participant produced little change from baseline during the intervention. With respect to social outcomes, changes were not noted in peer acceptance and friendship. Teachers reported notable improvement in the sociable behavior of 2 of the children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 4 participants showed varied increases in the production of validating comments. Possible factors influencing the successful application of the intervention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA. martin_fujiki@byu.edu
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiki
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brinton
authors.forename: Chelsea P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: McCleave
authors.forename: Valyne W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Janet P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D007808:Language Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D016896:Treatment Outcome