Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized a core triad of symptoms: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests (APA, 2000). Impairments in social development, however, have been considered the most salient and handicapping aspect of ASD and, traditionally, the primary deficit from which the diagnosis results. From a cognitive standpoint, it has been argued that these social impairments in individuals with ASDs arise as a result of deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM) development. The degree to which impairment in ToM corresponds to real-world social-communicative impairments has received little attention, however. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ToM and pragmatic language skills discriminated between adolescents with ASD and typically developing, age-matched comparison participants. The study also attempted to explore the relationships between ToM, pragmatic language, and social skills and test the model that pragmatic language mediates the relationship between ToM and social skills. Results indicated that ToM significantly predicted pragmatic language skills and that pragmatic language skills, and not ToM, significantly discriminated between adolescents with ASD (N = 10) and typically developing comparison participants (N = 10). The mediation model above was not supported by regression analysis; however, the results do provide some insight into the relationships between ToM, pragmatic language, and social skills. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research were discussed. / School of Education / School Psychology / PhD / Dissertation

This study presents the results of an analysis of pragmatic aspects of language samples obtained from five agrammatic aphasic individuals prior to and following Linguistic Specific Treatment (LST). Clinically and statistically significant positive changes in informativeness and efficiency were documented in posttreatment samples. Analysis of communicative competence (i.e., naïve listeners' ratings of pre- and posttreatment audiotaped samples), was undertaken to examine the social validity of quantified changes. Mean ratings across listeners were computed to evaluate their subjective perceptions of general communicative constructs. Results indicated that objectively measured changes in pragmatic aspects were perceptible to naïve listeners, however, to varying degrees across participants and constructs.

The goal of the current study was to investigate the social skills of a community sample of children that would vary in their level of ADHD symptomatology (e.g., inattention and hyperactivity), with a specific focus on their communication patterns and pragmatic language use (PLU). The study explored whether PLU was associated with, and perhaps accounted for, the social skills problems children with different degrees of ADHD symptomatology experience. Pragmatic language use, ADHD symptomatology, and social skills were examined with traditional standardized measures as well as a detailed investigation of communication patterns and PLU obtained from sampling behaviors from a semi-structured dyadic communication task. A community sample of 54 children between the ages of 9 and 11 years participated. Pragmatic language use partially mediated the relation between ADHD symptomatology and social skills. These results indicate that although the correlation between ADHD and social skills drops from r = -.649, p < .01 to r = -.478, p < .01, when PLU is entered in the model, the correlation between ADHD and social skills still remains significant. Further, ADHD symptomatology and PLU both predicted social skills scores, and although ADHD symptomatology and PLU were related to one another, PLU provided a unique contribution in the estimate of children’s social skills of 10.5% above and beyond the contribution of ADHD symptomatology. However, ADHD symptomatology was the most influential predictor in uniquely accounting for approximately 19% of the differences in social skills outcomes above and beyond the contribution of PLU. Possible explanations as to why PLU mediates the relation between ADHD symptomatology and social skills are discussed. Implications and future research are discussed in terms of children with ADHD and peer relations.

Individuals with brain injury are in need of speech and language therapy to improve impaired cognitive-communicative skills. Including significant communication partners (e.g., caregivers, spouses or parents) in intervention encourages carryover of skills practiced in therapy to natural communication contexts. Additionally, unimpaired partners benefit from training on how to communicate more effectively and and support the partner’s use of compensatory strategies for impaired cognitive skills. The objective of this multiple single case study was to evaluate the outcomes of a training program delivered to two dyads (Dyad B. and Dyad W.) composed of an adult with brain injury and an everyday communication partner. Participant dyads were recruited from a local brain injury support group. Training consisted of a four-week program during which participants received brain injury education, developed and monitored progress on goals, received instruction on communication strategies, and engaged in self-evaluation and role-play activities. Dependent variables were progress on individual goals, analysis of discourse variables, and the LaTrobe Communication Questionnaire. Treatment effects included a decrease in the amount of overlapping speech and an increase in the proportion of obliges and responses relative to comments for Dyad B., and increased deficit awareness and decreased conversation dominance on the part of the participant with brain injury for Dyad W. Results of the study showed that communication dyads affected by brain injury benefit from short-term training provided to both partners. / text

<p>Den här uppsatsen undersöker kännedom om och syn på pragmatiska språkstörningar bland lärare. Allt högre krav ställs på att kunna kommunicera och samspela med andra människor på ett skickligt och lämpligt sätt. I dagens informationssamhälle, med dess stora flöde av envägskommunikation, hamnar det goda samtalet, dialogen, på undantag. I dialogen lär man sig tidigt att använda språket på ett lämpligt sätt i en viss situation utifrån samhällets fastlagda normer. Intresset för pragmatik har ökat de senaste decennierna, och följaktligen intresset för pragmatiska språkstörningar. Forskning i främst Storbritannien och USA visar att det finns barn som har problem att använda språket på ett lämpligt sätt i en viss situation, där inga andra språksvårigheter föreligger. Även Sverige ligger långt fram inom forskningen om språkstörning. Vid Lunds universitet har man översatt ett frågeformulär som är till hjälp för att kartlägga barn med pragmatisk språkstörning. Fem lärare, verksamma i år F-9, intervjuades och med sina skiftande utbildningsbakgrunder uttryckte de sina uppfattningar om pragmatisk språkstörning. Studien visar att kännedom om symptom på pragmatisk språkstörning finns, men till diagnosen PLI ställde man sig mer tveksam. Samtidigt som det är viktigt för barn att få hjälp med de svårigheter de har, måste utbildade lärare lita till sin kompetens och inte låta experter och läkare få ensamrätt på att bedöma mänskligt beteende.</p>

Den här uppsatsen undersöker kännedom om och syn på pragmatiska språkstörningar bland lärare. Allt högre krav ställs på att kunna kommunicera och samspela med andra människor på ett skickligt och lämpligt sätt. I dagens informationssamhälle, med dess stora flöde av envägskommunikation, hamnar det goda samtalet, dialogen, på undantag. I dialogen lär man sig tidigt att använda språket på ett lämpligt sätt i en viss situation utifrån samhällets fastlagda normer. Intresset för pragmatik har ökat de senaste decennierna, och följaktligen intresset för pragmatiska språkstörningar. Forskning i främst Storbritannien och USA visar att det finns barn som har problem att använda språket på ett lämpligt sätt i en viss situation, där inga andra språksvårigheter föreligger. Även Sverige ligger långt fram inom forskningen om språkstörning. Vid Lunds universitet har man översatt ett frågeformulär som är till hjälp för att kartlägga barn med pragmatisk språkstörning. Fem lärare, verksamma i år F-9, intervjuades och med sina skiftande utbildningsbakgrunder uttryckte de sina uppfattningar om pragmatisk språkstörning. Studien visar att kännedom om symptom på pragmatisk språkstörning finns, men till diagnosen PLI ställde man sig mer tveksam. Samtidigt som det är viktigt för barn att få hjälp med de svårigheter de har, måste utbildade lärare lita till sin kompetens och inte låta experter och läkare få ensamrätt på att bedöma mänskligt beteende.

No description available.

This study examined the efficacy of a social skills training program on the use of validating comments and negative comments by children with specific language impairment. The present study is an extension of a previous research project. Four children (three female, one male) with specific language impairment, ages 6 to 11, participated in a ten week social skills training program which involved direct instruction of target concepts, peer interactions with classmates, and evaluation of the use of target skills by reviewing videotaped peer interactions. The individual performance of each subject was compared to the age- and gender-matched typical peers with whom they interacted during the weekly game sessions of the intervention program. The intervention program was successful in improving the use of validating comments for three of the four subjects (AA, CS, and JH). The subjects' increased use of validating comments, however, did not appear to significantly affect or change the participants' use of negative comments. It was also found that, while individual performance improved, three of the four participants (AA, MD, and CS) consistently produced fewer validating comments than did their typical peers during the weekly game sessions. Follow-up data for the participants indicated that the three participants (AA, CS, and JH) who showed improvement in their use of validating comments over the course of treatment appeared to maintain their increased skill after the treatment ended. Possible explanations for these results are discussed, and recommendations are made for future social skills training programs.

This study aims to explore some special education teachers’ experiences regarding the use of communication strategies in the subject of English in English medium schools with children with autism. The study is based on the teachers’ own reported lived experiences. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Four special education teachers who have worked for minimum two years with autistic children participated in the study which addresses the following questions: What communication strategies are used by special education teachers to effectively assist children with autism in their English learning process? What challenges arise when working with communication strategies with autistic children? What are the most important things to consider when working with autistic children’s English language use? The results have shown that the communication strategies used to effectively assist children with autism in their English learning process depend entirely on the child, their prior knowledge and interests. However, it has been possible to conclude that visual support is a resource of great importance for children with autism to succeed in expressing their communicative intentions.

The pragmatic language level in junior school pupils is the subject of the Master's thesis. The main object is to analyze the expression of the selected pupils with autism disorder, focusing on the pragmatic language level and then suggest other consecution for the practical use. The ultimate target is to analyze verbal, nonverbal and paralinguistic aspects of their speech. The theoretical part is focused on the process of communication, each language levels, and impaired communication ability. There is also theoretical knowledge about the autistic spectrum disorders, especially the terminology, etiology, symptomatology and the particular types of the disorders. The last part is based on the specification of the speech of pupils with the autistic spectrum disorder and the possibility of other development in this area, for example how to use the alternative and augmentative communication. The empiric part includes the qualitative research that analyses pragmatic language level of the selected pupils within the autistic spectrum. The analysis of the research, the observation of the participant, and the semi-structured dialog with the mother and the child are used to elaborate the research. KEYWORDS disorders of the autistic spectrum, autism, pragmatic language level, communication, impaired...