Teaching parents of children with autism picture communication symbols as a natural language to decrease levels of family stress.

摘要

Four families of children with autism were taught Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) as a natural language within the family home environment. An adaptation and expansion of Goosens', Crain and Elder's Aided Language Stimulation (an augmentative communication strategy), Natural Aided Language Stimulation (NALS), was implemented. Family members and the parent educator collaborated in selecting a child-reinforcing environment and choosing and prioritizing vocabulary for an environmentally specific language board. Natural Aided Language Stimulation involved a paradigm shift in which the picture language was viewed by the family as a real and legitimate language. The picture language became the common language for the child with autism and his/her family and was implemented as a second language in the family home.;Implementation of Natural Aided Language Stimulation consisted of incorporating the second language into the family milieu and pairing spoken language with picture language by touching the corresponding symbol while saying the word. All child communicative attempts were reinforced, clarified and/or expanded through PCS/NALS responses.;Utilizing a single subject design, parent-child communicative interactions were measured prior to, during and after the 8 to 12 week language intervention. Weekly ten minute videotaped probes of the parent and child in the treatment environment were coded by independent observers using a 15 second partial interval scoring. Three of four subject families demonstrated increases in communicative interaction between the child with autism and family members; the fourth family demonstrated anecdotal increases in communicative behaviors. As a correlate to the increases in communication, all four parents indicated decreases in their perception of the severity of several of their child's autistic symptoms on The Childhood Autism Rating Scale: non-verbal communication, imitation, body use, and taste, smell and touch responses. The parent's perception of the stress corresponding with these symptoms also decreased.