Children who have multiple disabilities often have complex communicational needs (Crickmay 1966; Orelove & Sobsey, 1996; Van Riper & Erickson, 1996; Workinger 2005). To augment or supplement these children’s communication skills some form of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) may be provided (Beukleman & Mirenda, 2005; Downing, 1996; Orelove & Sobsey, 1996; Stephenson & Dowrick, 2005). However it has been found that parents fear AAC will prevent focus on verbal output which is the preferred way of communication (Allaire et al 1991; Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005; Schlosser, 2003; Stephenson & Dowrick, 2005). This study investigated the impact of a combined therapy approach on the phonetic repertoire of children with multiple disabilities. In addition, changes in communication intent were also explored. Each child received intervention across four, 20-30 minute sessions per week for six weeks. Results show that all of the children made improvements, however not all changes were significant. Clinical implications of the study include the notion that working on traditional therapy techniques can improve the speech and language of children who have multiple disabilities and there is a need to look further at traditional therapies and incorporate AAC into these

Children who have multiple disabilities often have complex communicational needs (Crickmay 1966; Orelove & Sobsey, 1996; Van Riper & Erickson, 1996; Workinger 2005). To augment or supplement these children’s communication skills some form of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) may be provided (Beukleman & Mirenda, 2005; Downing, 1996; Orelove & Sobsey, 1996; Stephenson & Dowrick, 2005). However it has been found that parents fear AAC will prevent focus on verbal output which is the preferred way of communication (Allaire et al 1991; Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005; Schlosser, 2003; Stephenson & Dowrick, 2005). This study investigated the impact of a combined therapy approach on the phonetic repertoire of children with multiple disabilities. In addition, changes in communication intent were also explored. Each child received intervention across four, 20-30 minute sessions per week for six weeks. Results show that all of the children made improvements, however not all changes were significant. Clinical implications of the study include the notion that working on traditional therapy techniques can improve the speech and language of children who have multiple disabilities and there is a need to look further at traditional therapies and incorporate AAC into these

Samtalsanalys har tidigare använts som ett komplement till traditionellt använda standardiserade tester för att undersöka mer funktionella aspekter av kommunikation (Wells & Local, 1992; Yont, Hewitt & Miccio, 2002; Samuelsson 2009). Syftet med föreliggande studie är att utifrån sytematiska analyser av vardagliga samtal och logopedisk intervention utforska relationen mellan kommunikativa behov i vardagen och mål med intervention för barn med språkstörning. Tre barn med språkstörning filmades i vardagliga samtal hemma och på förskolan samt vid ett behandlingsbesök hos logopeden. Materialet transkriberades och analyserades enligt samtalsanalytiska principer. Intervjuer och retrospektioner genomfördes med föräldrar, förskolepersonal samt behandlande logoped för att ytterligare belysa barnens kommunikativa situation. I föreliggande studie framkommer att de kommunikativa behov barnen har relaterar till de mål som sätts upp i logopedisk behandling. På grund av deras fonologiska svårigheter påverkas barnens kommunikation då det ofta uppstår problemkällor, deras yttranden ignoreras och deras talutrymme inskränks. Reparationsstrategier används av både vuxna och barn för att reda ut de situationer där missförstånd uppstår. Dessa strategier kan, med hjälp av retrospektioner, uppmärksammas och diskuteras i logopedisk intervention i syfte att undvika framtida situationer där barnens svårförståeliga yttranden inte reds ut. / Conversation analysis has been used as a complement to traditional standardized testing to evaluate the functional aspect of communication (Wells & Local, 1992; Yont, Hewitt & Miccio, 2002; Samuelsson 2009). The purpose of the present study is to explore the relationship between everyday communicative needs and objectives set in speech and language intervention through systematic analysis of everyday conversations and speech and language intervention. Three children with language impairment were video recorded during everyday interaction at home, at the preschool and during one speech and language therapy session. The material was transcribed and analyzed according to principles of conversation analysis. Interviews and retrospections were conducted with parents, preschool teachers and the treating speech and language pathologists in order to further illustrate the participating children’s communicational situation. The results in the present study show that the communicational needs does relate to the objectives set up in speech and language intervention for the children in the current study. The children’s communication is primarily afflicted by their phonological difficulties in the way that it fuels for sources of communicational breakdowns, the children’s utterances become ignored and it restrains their participation in conversation. Repair strategies are used by both adults and children to solve sequences where mutual understanding is not achieved. These strategies may, through retrospections, be identified and discussed in speech and language intervention in order to avoid future situations where unintelligible utterances are not solved.