A combined prosodic and linguistic treatment approach for language-communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorders : a proof-of-concept study

摘要

This study aimed to determine whether the use of prosodically varied speech within atraditional language therapy framework had any effect on the listening skills, pragmatic skillsand social interaction behaviour of three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Asingle participant multiple baseline design across behaviours was implemented. Threeparticipants with ASD were selected for this research. The listening skills, pragmatic skills andsocial interaction behaviour of the participants were compared before treatment, after a 3-weekperiod of treatment and after a 2-week withdrawal period from treatment, utilising prosodicallyvaried speech within a traditional language therapy approach. Statistical significance was notcalculated for each individual due to the limited data, but visual inspection indicated that allthe participants showed positive behavioural changes in performance across all areas after 3weeks of treatment, independent of their pre-treatment performance level. The use ofprosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy framework appears to be aviable form of treatment for children with ASD.