Communication Profile Research Articles

The effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A South African pilot study

This study investigated the effects of introducing the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) on the frequency of requesting and commenting and the length of verbal utterances of two children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who presented with some spoken language, but limited use of language in communicative exchanges. A mixed research design was used, including a quantitative component — a single-subject multiple-baseline design (MBD) across three behaviours, repeated with two participants — and a qualitative component. Data was collected in the PECS pre-training, training, post-training and follow-up stages, in both structured and unstructured settings. The quantitative data was visually represented and analysed to determine the effectiveness of the PECS. The qualitative component investigated the impact of the PECS on other areas (e.g. communication profile, speech complexity and pragmatic skills), and included parent and educator perspectives. Both participants benefited from the introduction of PECS. The findings indicated highly effective treatment for requesting and mixed results for commenting and length of verbal utterances. There were considerable increases in intentional communicative acts (ICAs) for both participants, with marked increases in requesting (function) and the development of forms of communication (from augmentation of speech with pictures to speech only utterances). Clinical, educational and research implications were raised.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Three Case Studies

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Three Case Studies

Desordens do espectro alcoólico fetal e habilidades de comunicação: relato de caso familiar

Este estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar o perfil de habilidades comunicativas de cinco irmãos com Desordens do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal. O diagnóstico de Desordens do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal foi realizado a partir do histórico gestacional positivo para álcool e identificação de sinais clínicos. A avaliação fonoaudiológica constou da Observação do Comportamento Comunicativo, Escala de Desenvolvimento Comportamental de Gesell e Amatruda, Teste de Vocabulário por Imagens Peabody e avaliação audiológica. Todos os participantes apresentaram alterações nos comportamentos motor grosso, motor delicado, adaptativo, pessoal-social e de linguagem em graus variados. As habilidades comunicativas estavam comprometidas para todos os participantes e S4 apresentava comportamentos autísticos. As Desordens do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal foram confirmadas em S1, S2 e S5 e o diagnóstico de Síndrome Alcoólica Fetal foi confirmado para S3 e S4. Os resultados apresentaram variabilidade no desenvolvimento das habilidades de desenvolvimento dos irmãos com as Desordens do Espectro Alcoólico Fetal. A variabilidade dos achados, principalmente nas habilidades comunicativas e comportamentais, sugere a necessidade de acompanhar crianças com histórico de uso de álcool pela mãe, visto o impacto destas desordens no desenvolvimento global destes indivíduos, com impacto nas atividades de vida diária e escolaridade.

Developmental Profile of Infants Born to Mothers with Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT: Background: Postpartum period is associated with higher rates for depression, blues and psychosis. Anxiety is also significant. These disorders may have serious implications in the cognitive development of the infant. There is relative lack of data in this area. So we tried to estimate postpartum anxiety and depression in a group of women and tried to compare its impact on the infants’ development. Method: 100 women were assessed for depression and anxiety using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, ICD-10 criteria. Of the three categories of these postpartum women 10 each mother infant pairs were selected and were given Communication and Symbolic Behaviour Scales Developmental Profile Infant Toddler Checklist at 6 months. Results: 18% and 15% depression and anxiety were found respectively. Higher maternal age, parity, any post operative history correlated with it significantly. In case of infants, infants born to ill mothers were found to gain weight less as compared with that of infants born to healthy mothers. Moreover they were found to have less scores in the social, speech and symbolic composites. Conclusion: Depression and anxiety are separate clinical conditions having significant prevalence in postpartum period. These clinical conditions have impact on the development of the infant and its early recognition may be beneficial for the newborn and the family.

Habilidades pragmáticas, vocabulares e gramaticais em crianças com transtornos do espectro autístico

Development of grammatical, functional and lexical aspects in the language of children with autism spectrum disorders. To analyze the development of grammatical, functional and lexical aspects in three different moments: initial assessment, after six and twelve months of language therapy. Participants of this study were ten boys with ages between 2:7 and 11:2 years, with psychiatric diagnosis within the autistic spectrum. Video recorded samples of a 30 minutes patient-therapist interaction were recorded in three different moments (therapy onset, after six and twelve months of therapy) for each subject. The first 15 minutes of each sample was transcribed for the analysis of the functional communicative profile. Grammatical and lexical aspects were analyzed through the transcription of 100 speech segments of each sample. All data were longitudinally compared within and between areas. There were significant associations between the studied variables but no statistically significant differences along the studied period of language therapy. There are associations between grammatical and pragmatic performances.

Speech and Language Pathology and Autistic Spectrum

The aim of this study was to identify variations from different language therapy processes times in two groups of children with autistic spectrum disorders. 8 subjects, from 3 to 17 years old, participated of this study and they were divided in two groups: Group 1: 4 subjects, in language therapy for 12 months, with therapist change after 6 months; Group 2: 4 subjects, also in language therapy for 12 months, but without therapist change in this period. Data was collected from two videotapes recordings: initial and final and all the recordings had fifteen minutes of duration. The analysis was done according to the criteria proposed by Fernandes (2004a), for functional evaluation of language and the statistical analysis were done with the Wilcoxon signed ranks test and the Mann-Whitney test, with 5% of significance. The results showed no difference between the two groups. This outcome may be related to the small size of the groups or to the duration of the study. Nevertheless, a better functional profile of communication was noted on group 2, with had no therapist change. This outcome was represented by the improving of the communicational acts and the use of the communicative space, it was also noted an increasing of the utilization of the verbal mean and decreasing of the vocal mean, besides a greater utilization of the more interactive functions.

Communicative Acts of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Second Year of Life

To examine the communicative profiles of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the second year of life. Communicative acts were examined in 125 children 18 to 24 months of age: 50 later diagnosed with ASD; 25 with developmental delays (DD); and 50 with typical development (TD). Precise measures of rate, functions, and means of communication were obtained through systematic observation of videotaped behavior samples from the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (A. Wetherby & B. Prizant, 2002). Children with ASD communicated at a significantly lower rate than children with DD and TD. The ASD group used a significantly lower proportion of acts for joint attention and a significantly lower proportion of deictic gestures with a reliance on more primitive gestures compared with the DD and TD groups. Children with ASD who did communicate for joint attention were as likely as other children to coordinate vocalizations, eye gaze, and gestures. Rate of communicative acts and joint attention were the strongest predictors of verbal outcome at age 3. By 18 to 24 months of age, children later diagnosed with ASD showed a unique profile of communication, with core deficits in communication rate, joint attention, and communicative gestures.

Hybrid Message-Passing and Shared-Memory Programming in a Molecular Dynamics Application On Multicore Clusters

Hybrid programming, whereby shared-memory and message-passing programming techniques are combined within a single parallel application, has often been discussed as a method for increasing code performance on clusters of symmetric multiprocessors (SMPs). This paper examines whether the hybrid model brings any performance benefits for clusters based on multicore processors. A molecular dynamics application has been parallelized using both MPI and hybrid MPI/OpenMP programming models. The performance of this application has been examined on two high-end multicore clusters using both Infiniband and Gigabit Ethernet interconnects. The hybrid model has been found to perform well on the higher-latency Gigabit Ethernet connection, but offers no performance benefit on low-latency Infiniband interconnects. The changes in performance are attributed to the differing communication profiles of the hybrid and MPI codes.

The process of team communication in multi-cultural contexts: An empirical study using Bales’ interaction process analysis (IPA)

The main goal of the present study was to empirically investigate the manner in which cultural diversity and communication mode affect team communication process. Two independent variables were manipulated in the study: (1) cultural diversity (homogeneous versus heterogeneous); and (2) communication mode (face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication). Team members’ communication exchanges were measured by using Bales’ interaction process analysis (IPA) that divides the function (as opposed to the topical content) of communication during group discussion into either task-related or socio-emotional contributions at two-levels: communication profile and functional area. Results of this study indicated homogeneous teams used more showing agreement, giving opinions, and showing tension communication patterns compared to heterogeneous teams. Additionally, when considering the higher-level functional areas, teams using face-to-face (FTF) communication strategies were characterized by greater positive socio-emotional communication, more attempted answers, more questions, and more frequent negative socio-emotional communications. The results of the present study also suggested that the impact of communication mode on team communication varies by the level of diversity within the team. The outcomes of this research should have a broad impact on the management of a multi-cultural team, a task-oriented team consisting of people with different national cultures. Relevance to industry: Results of the present study should provide valuable insights into the ways in which cultural diversity and communication mode influence the communication mechanisms which take place among members during team interaction.

Families, Not Parents, Differ: Development of Communication in Finnish Infants.

This longitudinal study on Finnish families was conducted to identify developmental differences in family-level communication among mothers, fathers, and their infants during the second half of the infant's first year, and associations with infants' later language and communicative skills. We examined coregulated communication of parent-infant dyads during 5-min laboratory play sessions at 7 and 11 months. Few differences in mutually regulated communicative exchanges emerged between maternal and paternal dyads, and few developmental changes were found across the whole sample. Families with different communication profiles were identified, and changes rather than stability characterized communicative development at the family level. The family-level differences at 7 months predicted variation in children's language and communicative skills at 14 months.

Perfil comunicativo de crianças entre 1 e 3 anos com desenvolvimento normal de linguagem

OBJETIVO: traçar o perfil comunicativo (habilidades comunicativas e interacionais, compreensão verbal e aspectos do desenvolvimento cognitivo) de crianças entre 1 e 3 anos com desenvolvimento normal da linguagem, correlacionando com as variáveis faixa etária e gênero. MÉTODOS: participaram do estudo 24 crianças (12 meninos e 12 meninas), divididas em dois grupos: Grupo 1 (G1) - crianças de 1 e 2 anos e Grupo 2 (G2) - crianças de 2 e 3 anos. O instrumento de avaliação utilizado foi o Protocolo de Observação Comportamental (PROC) (Zorzi e Hage, 2004). RESULTADOS: na análise dos dados quantitativos houve diferença estatisticamente significante quando comparados os grupos por faixa etária (P<0,05). Na comparação dos dados qualitativos pela faixa etária as crianças do G2 foram superiores (P<0,05), exceto no item compreensão da linguagem oral que se mostrou equivalente nos grupos (P=0,217). Em relação ao gênero não houve diferença estatisticamente significante, entretanto observa-se uma superioridade do feminino. CONCLUSÃO: o teste utilizado foi sensível para identificar diferenças no desempenho entre os dois grupos etários no que tange ao perfil comunicativo das crianças pesquisadas.

Profiles for conveying the secure communication requirements of Web services

AbstractA fundamental theme of the services‐oriented Grid paradigm is the collaboration of participants from different administrative and security domains. As such, constructing meaningful, interoperable security that brokers interorganizational trust as well as token syntax and semantics is crucial for fostering Grid adoption and buy‐in. This is a lofty goal that must be tackled together by standards communities, middleware and platform software architects, and domain administrators. A crucial first step toward realizing this goal is the ability to normatively describe the secure communication requirements that affect message format. As such, we present two new OGF security profiles that provide guidance for the expression and conveyance of secure communication requirements. The Secure Communication Profile 1.0 is a refinement of the WS‐SecurityPolicy specification. The goals of this profile are to impose more restrictive conformance requirements on the WS‐Security mechanisms described by WS‐SecurityPolicy assertions, to facilitate key distribution and policy timestamping, and to profile normative ‘well‐known’ policy documents that identify commonly used security mechanisms. The Secure Addressing Profile 1.0 refines the WS‐Addressing specification in order to profile the inclusion of security policy within endpoint references (EPRs). This approach of conveying security policy within EPRs is well suited to the Grid paradigms of stateful Web service resources and factory patterns. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparative Analysis of Three Screening Instruments for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Toddlers at High Risk

Several instruments have been developed to screen for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in high-risk populations. However, few studies compare different instruments in one sample. Data were gathered from the Early Screening of Autistic Traits Questionnaire, Social Communication Questionnaire, Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales-Developmental Profile, Infant-Toddler Checklist and key items of the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers in 238 children (mean age = 29.6 months, SD = 6.4) at risk for ASD. Discriminative properties are compared in the whole sample and in two age groups separately (8-24 months and 25-44 months). No instrument or individual item shows satisfying power in discriminating ASD from non-ASD, but pros and cons of instruments and items are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Self-Recognition by Toddlers with Williams Syndrome

Event Abstract Back to Event Self-Recognition by Toddlers with Williams Syndrome C. H. Cashon1*, A. E. John1 and C. B. Mervis1 1 University of Louisville, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, United States Background and Purpose: The development of self-recognition is considered an important marker of cognitive development (Howe & Courage, 1997) and language development (Lewis & Ramsay, 2004) and may also be related to the development of empathy (Bishof-Kohler, 1988). Self-recognition is traditionally tested with the Rouge Task (Amsterdam, 1972) in which a child, after a spot of rouge was unobtrusively placed on his or her nose, is positioned in front of a mirror. Children who reach for the spot on their face instead of reaching for the spot on the mirror or not reaching at all are considered to recognize themselves. Despite eventual relative strengths in verbal short-term memory and language and a gregarious and overly friendly personality, young children with WS are delayed in their language acquisition and evidence some socio-communicative difficulties that overlap those of children with autism spectrum disorders. Children with WS also have considerable difficulty with visuospatial construction and more generally, with eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. The present study explores selfrecognition in toddlers with WS. Because of the unusual developmental profile of children with WS, data from these children provide an important test of the universality of the relation between the development of selfrecognition and the development of symbolic (pretend) play. Method: Participants were 26 children with WS (mean chronological age = 29.85 months, range: 21.95 to 37.75 months) for selfrecognition using the Rouge Task. In addition, the children completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (mean = 59.19, SD = 9.54) and their parents completed the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP) Caregiver Questionnaire, which includes a measure of symbolic play. Results and Discussion: Children who passed the Rouge Task did not differ significantly from those who did not pass the Task on chronological age (29.67 months vs. 30.12 months, p = .67) or on overall Mullen Composite score ((61.80 vs. 54.91, p = .07). A Fisher’s Exact Test indicated a significant relation between success on the Rouge Task and the ability to engage in symbolic play involving “object-directed” actions (e.g., brushing a doll’s hair, feeding a teddy bear with a spoon) (Figure 1, p < .001). This finding is consistent with Lewis and Ramsay (2004)’s results for TD toddlers. Discussion: In sum, the present findings indicate that self-recognition, when tested by the Rouge Task, is delayed for children with WS. The results also suggest that selfrecognition is related to object-related symbolic play, as has been shown for TD children. Within the age range tested, chronological age and expressive vocabulary were not found to be significantly related to performance on the Rouge Task. Theoretical implications will be discussed. Conference: 12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome, Garden Grove,CA, United States, 13 Jul - 14 Jul, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: SESSION 7: Social Cognition and Social Phenotype of Williams Syndrome Citation: Cashon CH, John AE and Mervis CB (2009). Self-Recognition by Toddlers with Williams Syndrome. Conference Abstract: 12th International Professional Conference on Williams Syndrome. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.07.031 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 30 Apr 2009; Published Online: 30 Apr 2009. * Correspondence: C. H Cashon, University of Louisville, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Louisville, United States, cara.cashon@louisville.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis Google C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis Google Scholar C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis PubMed C. H Cashon A. E John C. B Mervis Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Auditory disorders in a South African paediatric TBI population: Some preliminary data

South Africa has an exceptionally high incidence of traumatic brain injury in its paediatric population but very little systematic research has been conducted on the outcome of such injury. A number of socio demographic variables influence the mechanism of injury as well as its management. This paper reports on a study documenting the educational and audiological outcomes of a group of 100 subjects who sustained their injuries prior to the age of 12 years. The hearing and communication profile of this group is considered in relation to educational outcome. An illustrative case study will demonstrate the multiple influences on outcome in this setting, as well as the need for integrated team management. In the sample, 31% had a reported hearing loss, confirmed audiologically in 14% of subjects. The majority of the sample returned to a mainstream school. However, analysis indicated that about 75% of the sample was in need of specialized education, while only 22% of that sample had received any additional support. The implications of these findings for audiological policy and practice are highlighted.

Modo comunicativo utilizado por crianças com síndrome de Down

the communication of children with Down syndrome (DS) is frequently impaired due to difficulties in the phonological, syntactic and semantic aspects of language. In order to compensate these difficulties, many children use gestures for a longer period of time than children who present typical development (TD). to verify the performance of children with DS regarding their communicative profile (verbal, oral and gestural) during a play situation and a spontaneous interaction with an adult. 28 children with DS were studied in two different play situations: with a speech-language therapist and with the adult caregiver. Pragmatic theories were used to analyse the data. To determine the statistical significance of the results, the statistical tests of Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon and the confidence interval were used with a significance of 5%. the verbal communication mean was used mostly during the interaction with the caregivers and the gestural communication mean was used mostly during the interaction with the therapists. considering that the verbal communication mean is the one which is socially more used, the play situation with the caregiver was the most effective. However, although less verbal communicative acts were produced during the interaction with the speech-language therapist, the child used gestures to communicate, that is, the lack or little verbal communication did not stop the child from communicating with the interlocutor.

Speech and Language “Mythbusters” for Internationally Adopted Children

Speech and Language “Mythbusters” for Internationally Adopted Children

Apresentando um instrumento de avaliação da comunicação à Fonoaudiologia Brasileira: Bateria MAC

an assessment instrument to evaluate communication impairment after right brain damage: the Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery, an adapted brazilian version of the original canadian instrument--Protocole Montréal d'Evaluation de la Communication. Instruments that evaluate discursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic and prosodic impairments are important for the diagnosis of communication disorders which are present in approximately 50% of the individuals with right brain damage. Systematic studies of the communication profile after lesions on this side of the brain have been carried out only during the last two decades. to present the Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery to brazilian speech therapists. the described instrument is an useful tool in the clinic for assessing four processes related to the communicative and linguistic abilities: discursive, pragmatic-inferential, lexical-semantic and prosodic components. It is has been normalized, validated and its reliability has been confirmed. Although this instrument was developed and adapted for diagnosing communication disorders in individuals with right brain damage people, it can also be helpful in investigating communication sequels in traumatic brain injury, dementia, bilateral frontal lesions, left-brain damage, psychopathologies, such as schizophrenia, among others.

Fonoaudiologia e autismo: resultado de três diferentes modelos de terapia de linguagem

language and communication disorders are essential features of the autistic spectrum disorders, and are part of the diagnostic criteria. to verify the existence of observable differences in the functional communicative profile and in the social cognitive performance of autistic children and adolescents receiving language therapy in three different situations. Assessment focused on the period of modified intervention and on the following period. subjects were children and adolescents with psychiatric diagnosis within the autistic spectrum. Participants were divided in three groups according to the intervention received during a period of six months. determined observable differences, but not statistically significant. The group that presented the most progress was the one in which the subjects received therapy in pairs. The fact that none of groups presented a decrease in their progress indicators, as well as the fact that in a few situations the number of subjects who presented progress increased after this period was not expected. the results of the present study reinforce that the procedures used to determine the individual abilities and inabilities were useful in planning the intervention procedures.

Listening to people with seizures: How can linguistic analysis help in the differential diagnosis of seizure disorders?

Despite advances in medical technology, the patients' history remains the most crucial tool in the differential diagnosis of epileptic or non-epileptic seizures (NES). The distinction of these two types of seizures is a common and important task for neurologists. Whereas epileptic seizures would be treated with antiepileptic drugs, non-epileptic seizures are thought to be a manifestation of psychological or social distress and can improve with psychotherapy. This paper summarizes the findings of a series of multidisciplinary research studies undertaken at the Bethel Epilepsy Centre and the University of Bielefeld in Germany in which linguistic analysis was carried out to identify and describe linguistic and interactional features in clinical exchanges between doctors and patients with seizures. Two distinct communication profiles emerged in these studies based on the analysis of transcripts of over 110 doctor-patient encounters. Epileptic seizure descriptions are characterized by formulation effort, provide the doctor with a coherent account of individual seizures, relate subjective seizure experiences and use consistent metaphoric conceptualizations. Patients with NES tend not to volunteer subjective seizure symptoms, give accounts of their seizures which are difficult to understand and are inconsistent in their choice of metaphors.