Response Time of Young Children With Complex Communication Needs Following a Communication Opportunity

• Tiantian Sun ^[1] ; Ryan P. Bowles ^[1] ; Sarah N. Douglas ^[1] ; Joshua B. Plavnick ^[1]
  1. [1] Michigan State University

     Michigan State University

     City of East Lansing, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Exceptional children, ISSN-e 2163-5560, ISSN 0014-4029, Vol. 90, Nº. 1, 2023, págs. 27-42
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Children with complex communication needs (CCN) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often need more time to process and respond when communicating with others. This study employed a survival analysis approach exploring child response-time patterns following different communication opportunities for young children with CCN who use AAC. The results showed a median of 1.87 s response time with significant individual variability. Children took less time to communicate following a choice or a question than following a comment. AAC modeling was also associated with shorter response times. Additionally, the more opportunities that occurred without a child response, the longer child response time tended to be. Our findings suggest that if the child does not make a response attempt, instead of repeating communication opportunities, communication partners should consistently wait and use questions and choices along with modeling to increase child communication.