title: Increasing the vocalizations of individuals with autism during intervention with a speech-generating device.
abstract: This study aimed to teach individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and limited vocal speech to emit target vocalizations while using a speech-generating device (SGD). Of the 4 participants, 3 began emitting vocal word approximations with SGD responses after vocal instructional methods (delays, differential reinforcement, prompting) were introduced. Two participants met mastery criterion with a reinforcer delay and differential reinforcement, and 1 met criterion after fading an echoic model and prompt delay. For these participants, vocalizations initiated before speech outputs were shown to increase, and vocalizations generalized to a context in which the SGD was absent. The 4th participant showed high vocalization rates only when prompted. The results suggest that adding vocal instruction to an SGD-based intervention can increase vocalizations emitted along with SGD responses for some individuals with ASD.
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gevarter
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Mark F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Kasey
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Raechal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Laci
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: VICTORIA WELLINGTON UNIVERSITY.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sigafoos
authors.affiliation: TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY.
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: UNIVERSIY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rojeski
authors.affiliation: BARI UNIVERSITY, ITALY.
authors.forename: Giulio E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Lancioni
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D064706:Vocal Cord Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*
keywords: autism spectrum disorder; differential reinforcement; prompt delay; speech-generating device; vocalization