Communication Skills Of Children Research Articles

E-LEARNING APPLICATION FOR AUTISM CHILDREN

‘Auticore’ is a e-learning mobile application that will particularly help all the autism children to learn communication skills and to become a productive child from the childhood. All the features and interfaces are designed for children with autism spectrum disorder and Important features which may improve the quality of their learning abilities. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global plan to reduce inequality both inside and between countries. Autism is one of the challenging factors nowadays. Autism spectrum disorder, the name adopted in 2013, is a developmental disorder characterized by persistent problems in social communication and interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. The following project is specified the implementation process of E-learning application for students with autism spectrum disorder. The main goal of the project is to develop a mobile application to create a better and smartest way to learn social communication skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

ENGLISH LEARNING PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN IN ORPHANAGE, MUARA ANGKE, NORTH JAKARTA


 To provide quality and equitable education (SDG4), starting from one small area in Jakarta, a community service English Program was held by the Sunda Kelapa Sector Police, North Jakarta and UPH lecturers to teach English to elementary school children at the Orphanage in Muara Angke, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. This program was assisted by tutors from students of the Faculty of Education, Pelita Harapan University, while the lecturers supervise the planning and teaching process. This activity aims to train children's communication skills using English. As an international language, English is chosen to be taught to children. Holistic and collaborative technological innovation is used to understand the social and cultural context. Storytelling, conversation, coloring, naming, pronunciation, roleplay, and gamification are used in the learning method. The results of the service show reading and writing skills, increased learning motivation, introduction to material that still needs to be improved, training tutors' teaching skills in guiding and knowing the material properly, and teaching equipment that needs to be improved. In addition, from the learning experience they had, they could learn and play at the same time, feel more confident, and be more active as they increase their sense of competition to achieve the learning goals.

Effect of Teacher-Mediated Discrete-Trial Training in Improving Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teacher-mediated discrete trial training in improving the communication skills of children with Autism. The research deployed an ABAB research design, ABAB was divided into 4 phases; A1, B1, A2, and B2. A1 was a baseline, B1 was treatment, A2 was the removal of the treatment, and B2 was the treatment resumed following the break, and at last, a follow-up was conducted. In the study, three children with ASD who fulfilled the inclusionary criteria received Discrete-Trial Training from their teachers. In the study, the instruments used for assessment were social communication questionnaire-Lifetime, Autism diagnostic interview-revised, and Vineland -3 Adaptive behavioral scale (communication domain). To examine the intervention effect on each participant, visual analysis, raw score, v-scale score, and standard score comparisons were used. The study result indicated that teachers successfully learned the procedures of DTT and significantly improved the communication skills of students with ASD. This research shows that when DTT intervention is found important for children with ASD, teachers obtain intensive training to learn techniques and deliver interventions with fidelity. Training further allows teachers to improve the skills of children with ASD.

Effects of Physical Education on Socializing and Communicating Among Children and Preadolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

AbstractPhysical education stimulates brain plasticity. However, the effect of physical education interventions on socialization and communication skills in children and preadolescents with autism spectrum disorder is unknown. To review and qualitatively describe studies published between 2012 and 2022 that intervened with physical education to generate changes in socialization and communication skills in children and preadolescents with autism spectrum disorder. The search was designed following the PRISMA® guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses and performed in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed between 2012 and 2022. Fourteen studies were included in the systematic review and nine in the meta-analysis. Physical education was shown to be effective in increasing socialization and communication skills in children and preadolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

The Effectiveness of Pivotal Response Treatment Training for Mothers on the Communication Skills of Children with Non-verbal Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Parents of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) regularly seek the support of professionals when the child is diagnosed with ASD. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of pivotal response treatment (PRT) training for mothers in improving the communication skills of ASD children. Methods: In this double-blind, randomized clinical trial (RCT), 52 mothers of children with ASD were selected and randomly allocated into two groups in 2017 - 2018. The mothers of the intervention group received PRT training, and the children of the intervention and control groups received the applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment. The children's speech/language/communication and socialization scores were measured by the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) before, 1 week after, and 1 month after the intervention. Results: Before the intervention, the mean score of speech/language/communication and socialization did not significantly differ between the two groups. However, 1 week and 1 month after the intervention, the mean scores of speech/language/communication and socialization were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (P < 0.5). Conclusions: The results showed that parental training in PRT can provide permanent and effective therapy for children with ASD in the home environment.

Web app for the stimulation of auditory skills in children

The existing literature identifies various situations related to hearing problems in children, such as difficulties in understanding oral language, delayed speech development, or auditory discrimination problems. In this work, we present a technological tool designed to stimulate listening skills in children from 5 to 7 years old, following the principles of Condemarin. This tool offers stimulation activities and provides immediate feedback to improve the ability to recognize, discriminate, and interpret auditory stimuli, which contributes to the development of communication skills in children. The tool we developed is a web application that is easy for therapists to install, learn, and configure. For its creation, we follow the prototype methodology, which includes the requirements, assembly, evaluation, corrections, documentation, and testing stages. We collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of experts in information technology, linguistic rehabilitation, education, and graphic design. Throughout the six phases of our process, we kept user needs in mind, resulting in a system evaluation that demonstrated high user satisfaction and good performance both in technical and interface terms. In addition, this application benefits children with language disorders and learning difficulties and children from 5 to 7 years old since it encourages the development of their communication skills.

Aided Enhanced milieu teaching to develop symbolic and social communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder

Children who lack functional spoken language are candidates for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Aided AAC and naturalistic interventions offer the potential to extend the communication functions demonstrated by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are nonspeaking. Related intervention research, however, has been limited, in that interventions have generally targeted a limited range of communication functions taught in highly structured, decontextualized environments. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an intervention that combined aided AAC with a naturalistic intervention – enhanced milieu teaching (AEMT) - to increase symbolic communication in children with autism spectrum disorder. Three children with autism spectrum disorder participated in a multiple probe design, in which a range of communication functions were targeted using the AEMT. Results showed increases in the use of symbolic communication from baseline to intervention phases, which were found to be statistically significant for two of the three children (phi 0.7–0.81; p < .001). Intervention outcomes were generalized to a communication partner not involved in the intervention and maintained over time for all children. The study provides preliminary evidence that communication functions beyond object requests could be taught using a systematic, multi-element approach implemented across activities.

Research on the intelligent internet nursing model based on the child respiratory and asthma control test scale for asthma management of preschool children.

Childhood asthma is a common respiratory ailment that significantly affects preschool children. Effective asthma management in this population is particularly challenging due to limited communication skills in children and the necessity for consistent involvement of a caregiver. With the rise of digital healthcare and the need for innovative interventions, Internet-based models can potentially offer relatively more efficient and patient-tailored care, especially in children. To explore the impact of an intelligent Internet care model based on the child respiratory and asthma control test (TRACK) on asthma management in preschool children. The study group comprised preschoolers, aged 5 years or younger, that visited the hospital's pediatric outpatient and emergency departments between January 2021 and January 2022. Total of 200 children were evenly and randomly divided into the observation and control groups. The control group received standard treatment in accordance with the 2016 Guidelines for Pediatric Bronchial Asthma and the Global Initiative on Asthma. In addition to above treatment, the observation group was introduced to an intelligent internet nursing model, emphasizing the TRACK scale. Key measures monitored over a six-month period included the frequency of asthma attack, emergency visits, pulmonary function parameters (FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and PEF), monthly TRACK scores, and the SF-12 quality of life assessment. Post-intervention asthma control rates were assessed at six-month follow-up. The observation group had fewer asthma attacks and emergency room visits than the control group (P < 0.05). After six months of treatment, the children in both groups had higher FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and PEF (P < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups (P < 0.05). For six months, children in the observation group had a higher monthly TRACK score than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The PCS and MCSSF-12 quality of life scores were relatively higher than those before the nursing period (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the groups showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). The asthma control rate was higher in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.05). TRACK based Intelligent Internet nursing model may reduce asthma attacks and emergency visits in asthmatic children, improve lung function, quality of life, and the TRACK score and asthma control rate. The effect of nursing was significant, allowing for development of an asthma management model.

From the Global North to the Global South: the contribution of equestrian sport and leisure to children’s informal learning

ABSTRACT The Global South has been largely excluded from equestrian sport and leisure debates. In particular, the equestrian experiences of children in developing countries have remained silent since most of the studies on equestrian sport and leisure have focused on the experiences of adults in the Global North. Despite the fact that equestrian sport and leisure are part of children’s practices in countries of the Global South, very little is known about the benefits of equestrian sport and leisure in early childhood education in developing countries. This research explores the contribution of equestrian sport and leisure to children's informal learning. From an ethnographic approach to children's equestrian practice in Mexico, the study reveals that equestrian sport and leisure contribute to developing socialization, teamwork, discipline, and interspecies communication skills in children. This paper contributes to incorporating countries from the Global South into the global debates on equestrian sport in general, and on children in sport and leisure in particular.

Evolución percibida por los padres de preescolares que tartamudean que recibieron tratamiento preventivo

AimThe aim of this article is (a) to describe the progress perceived by parents of children between the ages of 2.11 and 5.11 who stuttered, after receiving preventive treatment for stuttering with parental support; (b) to assess the communicative resources learned by the children and their parents regarding stuttering and (c) to find out their level of satisfaction with treatment. The study was carried out at ILD, a specialized centre for fluency disorders. MethodsA questionnaire was administered to 18 parents, whose children had been discharged after therapy. Of the sample, 77.8% (n=14) were boys and 22.2% (n=4) girls. The selected children participating in the study were aged between 4 and 8 years (M=5.90, SD=1.25). ResultsFrom the responses it was noted that: (I) 88.9% of the children maintained fluent speech; (II) and 72.2% did not present or have blocks, 82.3% did not experience throat tension; (III) the children continued to present disfluencies when they were tired (n=6) or stressed (n=5); (IV) the children improved in speaking, behavior and had adopted good strategies in dealing with disfluencies or blocks; (V) both children and parents frequently used the resources learned during treatment; (VI) individual parent and follow-up sessions were conducted and most of them received guidelines to follow in case of relapses; and (VII) 94.4% of parents were satisfied with treatment outcomes. ConclusionResults indicate that the treatment conducted with the preschool children, with support from their parents, contributed to improvements in speech fluency, behavior, positive conversational attitudes, and parent–child communication skills.

Routine ear health and hearing checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged under 6years attending primary care: a national consensus statement.

This consensus statement provides new recommendations for primary care assessment of ear health and hearing status of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who are not known to have, or are not being actively managed for, ear health and hearing problems. Any child identified with otitis media should be actively managed. This national consensus statement extends existing treatment and management guidelines. MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS: Undertake checks at least 6-monthly, commencing at 6 months until 4 years of age, then at 5 years. Undertake checks more frequently in high risk settings for children under 2 years, when acceptable to families, or in response to parent/carer concerns. Ask parents/carers about concerns, signs, and symptoms; check children's listening and communication skills; and assess middle ear appearance and mobility. Otoacoustic emissions testing is suggested when equipment is available, primary health practitioners have capability and confidence to use the equipment, and there is local preference for its use. Video otoscopy is suggested for health promotion purposes, and/or for sharing images with other health practitioners. Audiometry should be done as per existing guidelines: when there are parent/carer concerns, signs of persistent/recurrent otitis media, or when listening and communication development is not yet on track. CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT AS A RESULT OF THIS STATEMENT: Key practice changes include routine use of tympanometry, and listening and communication skills checklists. Implementation will require access to equipment and training; clear information on immediate, practical actions for families; timely pathways to referral services; and a change management process that shifts perception and tolerance of otitis media and its impacts and raises expectations that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children can have healthy ears and hearing.

KEMAMPUAN KOMUNIKASI ANAK AUTIS DALAM BERINTERAKSI SOSIAL DI SEKOLAH LUAR BIASA KARYA TULUS KOTA MEDAN

The presence of children in family life is a source of true happiness for married couples. Her greatest hope rests on the growth of her child. However, there have also been a few births of children that families did not expect, especially those with neurological disorders such as autism that impair sensory integration. The purpose of this study was to measure the communication skills of children with autism in social interactions in the Special School of Kariya Turus (SLB)-C, Medan City. The method used is a qualitative research method that uses targeted sampling techniques to select samples according to researchers. Three autistic children, namely KM, S and BS, were included, and two other informants, Veronica Ginting and Masuda Bula Matanari, participated as class teachers. Data collection techniques are carried out through observations, interviews, and documentary research. This work uses Herbert Blumer's symbolic interaction theory. The results showed that she was the only one in three of her subjects who was recognized as having the ability to successfully interact socially. KMs are interactive in their social interactions with researchers, such as reading, writing, counting, and following commands. However, S and BS show deficits in social interaction. They showed no stability in eye contact and were not very cooperative in answering the researchers' questions.

ŠPECIÁLNOPEDAGOCICKÁ INTERVENCIA ORIENTOVANÁ NA ROZVÍJANIE KOMUNIKÁCIE DIEŤAŤA S HYDROCEFALOM DO TRETIEHO ROKU ŽIVOTA

This paper focuses on the issue of communication in children with hydrocephalus at an early age. The clinical picture of hydrocephalus is variable. Therefore, we talk about symptomatic speech disorders. The aim of the paper is a theoretical treatment of the subject and a proposal of research solutions oriented on the possibilities of developing the communication skills of these children. The research design is proposed as a qualitative-quantitative single-case experimental study oriented to children aged early to three years with a postnatal hydrocephalus diagnosis who have undergone lavage and cranioplasty and have a shunt in place. The research will aim to develop and validate an intervention program promoting communication skills in the early childhood hydrocephalus child. The research will be conducted intensively over five days a week for six months. The outcome of the research will be the design of a methodology aimed at supporting the child's communication skills with hydrocephalus at an early age, applicable in special education practice.

Music therapy improves social interaction and verbal communication skill among children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is constantly increasing, in which 6 of 1000 ASD children are from Asia. Music therapy as a developing alternative is believed to improve communication and expression skills in children with ASD. Unfortunately, no specific meta-analysis has evaluated social interaction and verbal communication skills in children with ASD. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate music therapy in children with ASD. We performed a comprehensive literature review on PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Wiley, and Proquest to study the efficacy of music therapy as an ASD management therapy until October 20th, 2022. Twenty-three randomized controlled trials involving patients with ASD, where 1129 patients were assigned in the intervention group and 759 patients – in the control group, were included in qualitative and quantitative analysis. The pooled estimates revealed that music therapy increased the social interaction score with mean difference (MD)=2.08 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.35–3.81; p&lt;0.02), social interaction score based on Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule with MD: 0.77 (95% CI: 0.03–1.51; p&lt;0.04), verbal communication skill based on Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised with MD=0.90 (95% CI: 0.79–1.00, p&lt;0.01). In conclusion, music therapy has excellent efficacy and strong potency as a part of ASD management. Nevertheless, more clinical trials with similar parameters are still required to confirm these findings.

Aawn: An Interactive Mobile Application for Improving the Communication Skills of Arab Children with Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes challenges in communication and social interaction. Since there is no single treatment for autism, autistic children need extra attention from their parents or caregivers to overcome their linguistic deficiency. Scientific studies have shown that technology-based educational methods are effective and can lead to a significant improvement, especially for autistic children. In recent years, an increasing number of mobile and multimedia applications have been developed to enhance autistic children's verbal communication, emotions, social behavior, and interaction skills. However, many of these systems are either in English or in local autistic children’s native languages. Others are designed to promote specific knowledge, i.e., emotions, or are limited in their features. This paper designs and implements a prototype for Arabic mobile application, called Aawn, to help and improve Arab autistic children's, in their own language, communication and emotions, as well as educational and organizational skills. Aawn is integrated with various supporting technologies based on the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and augmented with graphical features. The system is built and developed using Android Studio and various cloud-based tools. The system can be extended by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

LEGO play, worldwide

Dr Gina Gómez de la Cuesta sets out how a LEGO play programme, developed using international evidence of what works, helps improve the speech, language and communication skills of children

Possible disrupted biological movement processing in Developmental Coordination Disorder

AimThere is emerging evidence that the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) might contribute to the motor learning difficulties characteristic of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This study aimed to identify whether MNS activity differed between children with and without DCD during action observation, action execution and during a non-action baseline. MethodsElectroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure mu rhythm (a proxy for MNS activation) in 8-12-year-old children either with (n = 20) or without (n = 19) a diagnosis of DCD. The mu rhythm was recorded at rest and during five experimental conditions: (1) observation of gross motor and (2) fine motor actions; (3) execution of gross motor and (4) fine motor actions; and (5) non-biological movement. To address whether potential co-occurring traits of other neurodevelopmental conditions were associated with differences in mu rhythm, parents reported their child's attention and social communication skills. Mixed and repeated measure ANOVAs were conducted to examine differences in mu desynchronization and mu power respectively. ResultsThe non-DCD group showed greater mu rhythm desynchronization than children with DCD (i.e., more MNS activity), with both groups demonstrating increasing desynchronization from observation of fine actions to execution of gross actions. However, we also found that the children with DCD had less mu power during the non-biological movement condition than the non-DCD children, although mu power did not differ between groups during the resting condition. Correlations between mu desynchronization and children's attention and motor skills showed that poorer attention and motor abilities were associated with reduced MNS activity. ConclusionCompared to children without DCD, the MNS in children with DCD did not distinguish between biological and non-biological movement. It is possible that the reduced specificity of the MNS in children with DCD is an underlying factor in the motor impairments observed in the disorder. The differential MNS activity could reflect broader atypical activity in perceptual networks that feed into the MNS in DCD.

Formation of Communication Skills of Younger Schoolchildren with Mental Retardation through Theatrical Activities

The article presents the practical aspects of studying the formation of communication skills of younger schoolchildren with mental retardation in the process of extracurricular theatrical activities. The specifics of the phenomenon of communication skills and the influence of theatrical activities on their formation are analyzed. In the course of the pilot study, it was found that at the ascertaining stage of the experiment, children of primary school age with mental retardation showed low levels of communication skills, indicating insufficient communicative competence, ineffective communicative interaction, insufficiently developed activity in the field of displaying and transmitting action landmarks: In order to form communication skills among younger schoolchildren with mental retardation, a program was developed that consists of three stages: preparatory, main and final. At the control stage of the experiment, the indicators of the development of communication skills became higher in the experimental group, which indicates the effectiveness of the use of the psycho-correction program by means of theatricalization, aimed at increasing the communication skills of children of primary school age with mental retardation.

Exploring the Potential of Social Robots for Speech and Language Therapy: A Review and Analysis of Interactive Scenarios

The use of innovative technology in the field of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) has gained significant attention nowadays. Despite being a promising research area, Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) have not been thoroughly studied and used in SLT. This paper makes two main contributions: firstly, providing a comprehensive review of existing research on the use of SARs to enhance communication skills in children and adolescents. Secondly, organizing the information into tables that categorize the interactive play scenarios described in the surveyed papers. The inclusion criteria for play scenarios in the tables are based only on their effectiveness for SLT proven by experimental findings. The data, systematically presented in a table format, allow readers to easily find relevant information based on various factors, such as disorder type, age, treatment technique, robot type, etc. The study concludes that the despite limited research on the use of social robots for children and adolescents with communication disorders (CD), promising outcomes have been reported. The authors discuss the methodological, technical, and ethical limitations related to the use of SARs for SLT in clinical or home environments, as well as the huge potential of conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a secondary assistive technology to facilitate speech and language interventions.

Impact of parental involvement on the communication skills of children with autism

In pursuit of every individual’s access to education regardless of one’s statusin life, the Philippines establishedspecial education(SPED) centers to caterto children with special needs.Children with autism are the expectedbeneficiaries of these centers. This research assessed the impact of parentalinvolvement on the communication skills of children with autism at a SPEDcenter in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. Their teachers, regardingtheircommunication skills, assessed thirty children with autism. At the sametime, parents were asked to rate their extent of involvement in their child’sschool activities using survey questionnaires. Different statistical tools wereused to treat the data gathered, such as the weighted mean, standarddeviation, andPearsonproduct moment correlation coefficient. Resultsrevealed that parents were involved in the school activities of their children.However, the children had a moderate manifestation of communicationskills. It was found that there is a moderate positive significant relationshipbetween the parents’involvement and the communication skills of thechildren. Thus, teachers are encouraged to design programs for the childrenthat would involvethe parents in enhancing the communication skills ofchildren with autism.