Teaching Children with Autism to Answer Questions about the School Day Using a Speech-Generating Device

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) research has primarily focused on instructional methods to improve requesting in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Expanding communication instruction beyond requests is essential for supporting children with complex communication needs in developing broader communication repertoires. Previous studies have preliminarily evaluated instructional methods for teaching intraverbal responding using AAC, but further research is warranted. The present study evaluated whether an error-correction procedure increased accurate reporting of recent school activities for two children with autism who communicated primarily with a speech-generating device. The questions pertained to what the participants ate and with whom or what they interacted and were similar to questions a caregiver may ask when a child arrives home from school. A concurrent multiple-probe design across stimuli was employed, and accurate reports were graphed using cumulative records. Following an activity, teachers and support staff asked participants questions about the previous activity, with target responses varying daily based on the circumstances. Results indicated that the intervention increased accurate reports to the targeted questions for both participants. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.