Let's Talk: Review of Conversation Intervention Approaches for School-Aged Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Conversation skills are an important intervention focus for verbally fluent school-aged children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three sets of approaches for supporting conversation skills are reviewed. Pragmatic language approaches focus on teaching the verbal and nonverbal skills needed to initiate and maintain conversations including strategies for recognizing and repairing communication breakdowns. Social skill approaches focus on similar conversation behaviors, but these behaviors are usually taught for use within specific social tasks such as entering peer groups, maintaining interactions, and resolving conflicts. Peer-focused approaches enlist the support of peers through direct teaching of strategies to engage and maintain conversations with students with ASD (i.e., peer-mediated interventions) or through environmental arrangement strategies to promote interactions between students with and without ASD (i.e., peer networks). Conversation interventions that incorporate strategies from all three sets of approaches are most likely to promote optimal outcomes. These outcomes include opportunities for students with ASD to develop and refine conversation skills with classmates who are more open to interactions with peers of differing abilities.

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder - pragmatic language - social skills - peer-mediated intervention - peer supports - peer networks

Disclosure

Financial: The author receives academic year salary from James Madison University.

Nonfinancial: No relevant nonfinancial relationships exist.

• References

• 1 Christensen DL, Baio J, Van Naarden Braun K. , et al; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years—Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 sites, United States, 2012. MMWR Surveill Summ 2016; 65 (3, No. SS-3): 1-23
• 2 American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013
• 3 Paul R, Orlovski SM, Marcinko HC, Volkmar F. Conversational behaviors in youth with high-functioning ASD and Asperger syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 2009; 39 (01) 115-125
• 4 Paul R, Wilson K. Assessing speech, language, and communication in autism spectrum disorders. In: Goldstein S, Naglieri J, Ozonoff S. , eds. Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorders. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 2009: 171-208
• 5 Norbury CF. Practitioner review: social (pragmatic) communication disorder conceptualization, evidence and clinical implications. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2014; 55 (03) 204-216
• 6 Ozonoff S. Executive functions in autism. In: Schopler E, Mesibov G. , eds. Learning and Cognition in Autism. New York, NY: Plenum Press; 1995: 199-219
• 7 Paul R, Norbury C. Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence. 4th Edition. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier;
• 8 Baron-Cohen S, Tager-Flusberg H, Cohen D. , eds. Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from Autism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1994
• 9 Adams C. Practitioner review: the assessment of language pragmatics. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2002; 43 (08) 973-987
• 10 Schoen Simmons E, Paul R, Volkmar F. Assessing pragmatic language in autism spectrum disorder: the Yale in vivo Pragmatic Protocol. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2014; 57 (06) 2162-2173
• 11 Müller E, Cannon LR, Kornblum C, Clark J, Powers M. Description and preliminary evaluation of a curriculum for teaching conversational skills to children with high-functioning autism and other social cognition challenges. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 2016; 47 (03) 191-208
• 12 Adams C, Gaile J. The SCIP Manual: Social Communication Intervention Programme. Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK: Napier Hill Press; 2015
• 13 Leaf J, Taubman M, Bloomfield S. , et al. Increasing social skills and pro-social behavior for three children diagnosed with autism through the use of a teaching package. Res Autism Spectr Disord 2009; 3: 275-289
• 14 Adams C, Lockton E, Freed J. , et al. The Social Communication Intervention Project: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of speech and language therapy for school-age children who have pragmatic and social communication problems with or without autism spectrum disorder. Int J Lang Commun Disord 2012; 47 (03) 233-244
• 15 Adams C, Lockton E, Gaile J, Earl G, Freed J. Implementation of a manualized communication intervention for school-aged children with pragmatic and social communication needs in a randomized controlled trial: the Social Communication Intervention Project. Int J Lang Commun Disord 2012; 47 (03) 245-256
• 16 Izaryk K. Exploring the Conceptual Foundations of Social Communication in Preschool and School-Aged Children. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. Paper 3051. 2015. Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3051 . Accessed January 31, 2018
• 17 Finke EH. Friendship: operationalizing the intangible to improve friendship-based outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2016; 25 (04) 654-663
• 18 National Autism Center. Findings and Conclusions: National Standards Project, Phase 2. Randolph, MA: Author; 2015
• 19 National Autism Center. National standards project. Available at: http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/national-standards-project/ . Accessed January 19, 2018
• 20 Wong C, Odom SL, Hume KA. , et al. Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 2015; 4 5 (07) 1951-1966
• 21 Wong C, Odom SL, Hume KA. , et al. Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. Available at: http://fpg.unc.edu/node/6614 . Accessed January 19, 2018
• 22 Lynch G. Evidence-based practices and teaching nonverbal pragmatic skills to adolescents with ASD: lessons learned from parent perspective and brain research. P Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups 2017; 2 (Part 1): 47-55
• 23 Laugeson E, Frankel F. Social Skills for Teenagers with Developmental and Autism Spectrum Disorders: The PEERS Treatment Manual. New York, NY: Routledge; 2010
• 24 Laugeson E. PEERS® for Young Adults: Social Skills Training for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Social Challenges. New York, NY: Routledge; 2010
• 25 Laugeson E. The PEERS Curriculum for School-Based Professionals. New York, NY: Routledge; 2014
• 26 Laugeson EA, Frankel F, Mogil C, Dillon AR. Parent-assisted social skills training to improve friendships in teens with autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2009; 39 (04) 596-606
• 27 Laugeson EA, Frankel F, Gantman A, Dillon AR, Mogil C. Evidence-based social skills training for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: the UCLA PEERS program. J Autism Dev Disord 2012; 42 (06) 1025-1036
• 28 Kasari C, Rotheram-Fuller E, Locke J, Gulsrud A. Making the connection: randomized controlled trial of social skills at school for children with autism spectrum disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2012; 53 (04) 431-439
• 29 Watkins L, O'Reilly M, Ledbetter-Cho K. , et al. A meta-analysis of school-based social interaction interventions for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Rev J Autism Dev Disorder 2017; 4 (04) 277-293
• 30 Bene K, Banda D, Brown D. A meta-analysis of peer-mediated instructional arrangements and autism. Rev J Autism Dev Disord 2014; 1: 135-142