Case study 1-
Area of intervention: Annie’s speech impairment leading to her inability to communicate, which in turn causes behavioural problems, such as biting.
The Intervention
The intervention studied and proven to be effective in the three case studies mentioned in the journal is the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). I think that this augmentative communication system should be used to address Annie’s inability to communicate normally. PECS is a systematic program based on the teaching principles of applied behaviour analysis that provide children who have delayed verbal skills or speech impairment with an augmentative communication system (NRC, 2001; Schwartz, Garfinkle, & Bauer, 1998 as cited in Skokut, Robinson, Openden, Jimerson, 2008). It focuses on teaching children to initiate requests by exchanging pictures for desired objects and activities.
The first case study aimed to study the communicative outcomes with the use of PECS, the second to find out if PECS would be a communication system which children with speech impairment could use to communicate with others effectively, and the third to investigate if the acquisition of PECS and speech would result in ancillary gains pertaining social- communicative and disruptive behaviours.
Its Effectiveness
In the study done by Bondy and Frost (1994) within a two year period, 59% of the 66 children studied acquired independent speech, 30% used speech with PECS and 11% used PECS only. In the second study, which was done by Schwartz and colleagues (1998) involving 18 children over a period of 14 months, all the participants learned to use PECS functionally to communicate with adults and peers. Finally, the third study conducted by Charlop- Christy and colleagues (2002) to investigate if the acquisition of PECS reduced disruptive behaviours. Data was collected during pre training, training and post training sessions across academic and free play activities and even participants were even evaluated again at a 10 month follow up period after the study. The results indicate that there were decreases in disruptive behaviour as well as improvements in behaviours such as eye contact and toy play with peers.
How Annie will benefit from this intervention
First of all, I would like to address the issue on Annie’s disruptive behaviour (biting) in class. All humans need an avenue to communicate our thoughts, our needs and our feelings. Annie has probably resorted to such disruptive behaviours because she has speech impairment which cripples her ability to communicate verbally and to a child, there is no way else other than through physical actions that she can communicate her anger. With the picture exchange system, Annie will first learn identify the representation of each picture or icon to communicate her basic needs. After which, she will slowly gain the ability to use the system to communicate in sentences that communicate a request or comment across a variety of settings. With an avenue to communicate her thoughts, needs and feelings, I believe that there will be a reduction in her disruptive behaviour. As the case study done by Charlop- Christy and colleagues has shown, acquisition of the PECS resulted in the decrease of disruptive behaviour.
Also, PECS is an augmentative communication and not an alternative communication system. It involves six different phases that also aim to help children with speech difficulties acquire speech and together with the therapy received by her speech therapists, Annie might be able to acquire speech.
How I can make adjustments to cater to the needs of Annie and to facilitate integration of Annie / the intervention activity into my classroom:
I can introduce the picture cards to the other children in my class as well so that they would be able to understand what Annie needs or wants from them. Picture cards with basic picture icons might be easy to interpret but once Annie acquires the ability to use these cards to “speak” in sentences (for example adding the icon “i want”), I think it would be better if the other children are aware on the meaning and usage of that.
It is important for me to work closely with Annie’s parents and get updates from her speech therapist. By working closely with Annie’s parents, the PECS would be reinforced systematically and consistently both at home and in school. By providing consistency and reinforcement, Annie will be able to acquire the PECS more effectively.
Reference
Skokut, M., Robinson, S., Openden, S. & Gimerson, S.R. (2008). Promoting the social and cognitive compentency of children with disabilities: Interventions at school. The California School Psychologist, 13, 101-102. Retrieved September 8, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=9&sid=2f6f3efb-b088-49fb-93a6-f0840f6abf69%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=35968406
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Melanie Tan, Group A
Case Study One
Interventions:
1. This research is about the use of pretend play to aid social and linguistic competence. Extracted from the Bergen (2002) research, it is said that pretend play contributes to “cognitive functioning and impulse control” (Saltz, Dixon, & Johnson, 1977). Furthermore, it is said in Bergen (2002) research that young children’s play also helps children to problem solve (Smith & Dutton, 1979).
2. Another research, extracted from Recchia & Soucacou (2006) research, states that teachers play very important roles in the classroom, “in the socialization process” for young children with disabilities as they require “an increased and prolonged need” for adult assistance to make “social interactions with both adults and peers” possible. (Guralnick & Groom, 1987; Mahoney & Wheeden, 1999)
Effectiveness:
1. With opportunities provided in the classroom setting, the researchers found out that pretend play can help a child’s development, especially for children who exhibit “nonsocial or withdrawn” behaviours, stated by the Bergen (2002) in her research (Rubin and Coplan, 1998).
Furthermore, this intervention also addresses Annie’s speech impairment and communication difficulties. Taken from Bergen (2002) research, she found out from other researchers that there is a positive relationship between play and language development; as children will tend to take on or participate in literacy activities (e.g., Christie & Enz, 1992; Einarsdottir, 2000; Neuman & Roskos, 1992; Stone & Christie, 1996).
Adding on, Bergen (2002) research stated that during the early years of the child, pretend play is important for the “development of self-regulation” (Krafft & Berk, 1998, p.637). Annie will thus be able to learn to problem solve, and not resort to biting her friends when she is unhappy.
To sum up and as Bergen (2002) states, research has shown that there are “clear links between social and linguistic competence and high-quality pretense”
2. With this research, it is important that teachers understand their role as teachers to help children with special needs to communicate with others. As quoted from the Recchia & Soucacou (2006) research, “positive early social experience contributes to ongoing positive social experience and later social adjustment” (Kontos & Wilcox-Herzog, 1997; Pianta, 1997; Sroufe, 1983).
Henceforth, with better communication skills, Annie will be able to adapt better to the school and perhaps perform even better than she is in terms of her learning and school.
Personal evaluation:
1. With opportunities laid out for pretend play, I feel that children are better able to express themselves as they re-enact scenes. Thus, it acts as a platform for Annie to express her emotions instead of displaying behavioural or social difficulties, such as biting others. With pretend play, I feel that Annie will learn how to control her emotions. Furthermore during pretend play, it provides the opportunity for social interactions to take place between Annie and her peers. The teacher has to come in as a facilitator during this period as she is shy and withdrawn. Also, the teacher can act as a mediator, if Annie’s friends tease her.
Furthermore, it is said that by providing play-based activities for young children, a sense of inquisition could be instilled and in turn connects them to “social and cognitive processes” that encourage and supports verbal and interpersonal skills. (Klein, Hammrich, Bloom & Ragins’s Online Research Journal, 2000).
Curtis & Cartner (2003) also states in his preschool assessment of the environment that materials should be provided for the child to allow him/her to “make representations” from what he/she understands (p. 224).
2. As an early childhood educator, I know the importance of the role that a teacher plays in the classroom setting. Furthermore, as said in the research of & Soucacou (2006), children with special needs “are at risk for non-optimal social relationships with both adults and peers” (Guralnick, Hammond, Connor, & Neville, 2006). This is because, children with disabilities face the problem of “forming and maintaining friendships” (Odom et al., 1999).
Furthermore, teachers are known as "attachment figures" and children who are "securely attached to their teachers are also able to explore their physical and social environments more appropriately" (Semrud-Clikeman, 2007, p. 17). In this way, children will have the opportunity to develop prosocial skills as they interact better with their peers.
Thus, I feel that the teacher, who plays numerous roles such as a facilitator, will be able to respond to Annie’s needs, as she addresses the problems that Annie faces in school.
Suggestions:
1. I feel that the classroom setting in Singapore should promote play as most of the dramatic play corners I have observed in most centres, are rather small or have insufficient materials. Furthermore, children love to play and I feel that as teachers, we can tap on this area, to provide meaningful learning experiences for children, through play. Personally, I feel that children learn through play and perhaps preschool centres should adopt a curriculum that focus more on play-based learning.
2. Looking at this intervention and referring it to the local context, I feel that perhaps it is important for early childhood teachers to have relevant skills and knowledge in the area of special needs. In this way, the teachers can respond to all children’s needs accordingly as she plays. Currently, as I have observed the teachers in the centres that I have been attached to for field practicum, the teachers are not trained in the area of special needs.
Reference:
Bergen, D. (2000). The role of pretend play in children’s cognitive development. Volume 4, Number 1. Retrieved 29 August 2009, from Early Childhood Research and Practice website: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/bergen.html
Curtis, D. & Carter, M. (2003). Designs for living and learning: Transforming early childhood environments. St. Paul: Redleaf Press.
Klein, E.R., Hammrich, P.L., Bloom, S., Ragins, A. (2000). Language development and science inquiry: The head start on science and communication program. Volume 2, Number 2. Retrieved 29 August 2009, from Early Childhood Research and Practice website: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v2n2/klein.html
Recchia, S.L., Soucacou, E.P. (2006). Social experience in three early childhood special education classrooms. Volume 8, Number 2. Retrieved 30 August 2009, from Early Childhood Research and Practice website: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/recchia.html
Semrud-Clikeman, M. (2007). Social competence in children. United States of America: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Interventions:
1. This research is about the use of pretend play to aid social and linguistic competence. Extracted from the Bergen (2002) research, it is said that pretend play contributes to “cognitive functioning and impulse control” (Saltz, Dixon, & Johnson, 1977). Furthermore, it is said in Bergen (2002) research that young children’s play also helps children to problem solve (Smith & Dutton, 1979).
2. Another research, extracted from Recchia & Soucacou (2006) research, states that teachers play very important roles in the classroom, “in the socialization process” for young children with disabilities as they require “an increased and prolonged need” for adult assistance to make “social interactions with both adults and peers” possible. (Guralnick & Groom, 1987; Mahoney & Wheeden, 1999)
Effectiveness:
1. With opportunities provided in the classroom setting, the researchers found out that pretend play can help a child’s development, especially for children who exhibit “nonsocial or withdrawn” behaviours, stated by the Bergen (2002) in her research (Rubin and Coplan, 1998).
Furthermore, this intervention also addresses Annie’s speech impairment and communication difficulties. Taken from Bergen (2002) research, she found out from other researchers that there is a positive relationship between play and language development; as children will tend to take on or participate in literacy activities (e.g., Christie & Enz, 1992; Einarsdottir, 2000; Neuman & Roskos, 1992; Stone & Christie, 1996).
Adding on, Bergen (2002) research stated that during the early years of the child, pretend play is important for the “development of self-regulation” (Krafft & Berk, 1998, p.637). Annie will thus be able to learn to problem solve, and not resort to biting her friends when she is unhappy.
To sum up and as Bergen (2002) states, research has shown that there are “clear links between social and linguistic competence and high-quality pretense”
2. With this research, it is important that teachers understand their role as teachers to help children with special needs to communicate with others. As quoted from the Recchia & Soucacou (2006) research, “positive early social experience contributes to ongoing positive social experience and later social adjustment” (Kontos & Wilcox-Herzog, 1997; Pianta, 1997; Sroufe, 1983).
Henceforth, with better communication skills, Annie will be able to adapt better to the school and perhaps perform even better than she is in terms of her learning and school.
Personal evaluation:
1. With opportunities laid out for pretend play, I feel that children are better able to express themselves as they re-enact scenes. Thus, it acts as a platform for Annie to express her emotions instead of displaying behavioural or social difficulties, such as biting others. With pretend play, I feel that Annie will learn how to control her emotions. Furthermore during pretend play, it provides the opportunity for social interactions to take place between Annie and her peers. The teacher has to come in as a facilitator during this period as she is shy and withdrawn. Also, the teacher can act as a mediator, if Annie’s friends tease her.
Furthermore, it is said that by providing play-based activities for young children, a sense of inquisition could be instilled and in turn connects them to “social and cognitive processes” that encourage and supports verbal and interpersonal skills. (Klein, Hammrich, Bloom & Ragins’s Online Research Journal, 2000).
Curtis & Cartner (2003) also states in his preschool assessment of the environment that materials should be provided for the child to allow him/her to “make representations” from what he/she understands (p. 224).
2. As an early childhood educator, I know the importance of the role that a teacher plays in the classroom setting. Furthermore, as said in the research of & Soucacou (2006), children with special needs “are at risk for non-optimal social relationships with both adults and peers” (Guralnick, Hammond, Connor, & Neville, 2006). This is because, children with disabilities face the problem of “forming and maintaining friendships” (Odom et al., 1999).
Furthermore, teachers are known as "attachment figures" and children who are "securely attached to their teachers are also able to explore their physical and social environments more appropriately" (Semrud-Clikeman, 2007, p. 17). In this way, children will have the opportunity to develop prosocial skills as they interact better with their peers.
Thus, I feel that the teacher, who plays numerous roles such as a facilitator, will be able to respond to Annie’s needs, as she addresses the problems that Annie faces in school.
Suggestions:
1. I feel that the classroom setting in Singapore should promote play as most of the dramatic play corners I have observed in most centres, are rather small or have insufficient materials. Furthermore, children love to play and I feel that as teachers, we can tap on this area, to provide meaningful learning experiences for children, through play. Personally, I feel that children learn through play and perhaps preschool centres should adopt a curriculum that focus more on play-based learning.
2. Looking at this intervention and referring it to the local context, I feel that perhaps it is important for early childhood teachers to have relevant skills and knowledge in the area of special needs. In this way, the teachers can respond to all children’s needs accordingly as she plays. Currently, as I have observed the teachers in the centres that I have been attached to for field practicum, the teachers are not trained in the area of special needs.
Reference:
Bergen, D. (2000). The role of pretend play in children’s cognitive development. Volume 4, Number 1. Retrieved 29 August 2009, from Early Childhood Research and Practice website: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/bergen.html
Curtis, D. & Carter, M. (2003). Designs for living and learning: Transforming early childhood environments. St. Paul: Redleaf Press.
Klein, E.R., Hammrich, P.L., Bloom, S., Ragins, A. (2000). Language development and science inquiry: The head start on science and communication program. Volume 2, Number 2. Retrieved 29 August 2009, from Early Childhood Research and Practice website: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v2n2/klein.html
Recchia, S.L., Soucacou, E.P. (2006). Social experience in three early childhood special education classrooms. Volume 8, Number 2. Retrieved 30 August 2009, from Early Childhood Research and Practice website: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/recchia.html
Semrud-Clikeman, M. (2007). Social competence in children. United States of America: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Cindy Lee , Group B
Case 1 Annie, 6 year-old girl (Communication disorder)
This paper consists of a precise analysis about the intervention, effectives, personal evaluation and suggestions on the article about using narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) with children who have Specific Language Impairment, SLI (Swanson, Fey, Mills & Hood, 2005). This six weeks program of narrative based intervention was conducted with ten children aged seven to eight years old with SLI. Each intervention session targeted story content and sentence from using story retell and generation tasks. The article stated that throughout the program, the children showed increase confidence in their narrative production skills.
Intervention
The intervention sessions were conducted individually for each participant, each fifty minutes, held three times a week over the six weeks. There are three intermediate goals selected based on each child’s conversational and narrative samples. The targeted goals included post-modification of nouns, subordinating conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions, and verb phrase elaboration. The materials used were twenty six novel stories. The specific stories selected for each child were determined by the child’s syntactic goals. All stories contained each of the narrative components, setting, characters, problem, resolution, complication and ending. Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts was used to determine the number of total words.
The procedure of the NBLI started with a warm-up activity. The child retold the story from the story retell-imitation task based on the previous experiences ad practice from the previous session. Next is the story retell-imitation task. In this task, the child was asked to retell a story that contained multiple examples of the morphosyntactic or discourse-level target form on a component-by-component basis. The clinician highlighted the story’s main theme to enhance the child’s interest and to trigger the child’s prior knowledge of the story’s semantic details.
After which a short speech impairment drill was designed to provide the child with exposure to and production practice with his or her grammatical target and to require close attention to clinician models. The child would mimic the contrastive sentence and if achievable the targeted sentence. Followed by a story generation task the child selected a single picture from a choice of two or more. He or she was supposed to describe the scene and characters, and the clinician recapped the child’s introduction including all missing relevant information. At the end of the session, the child received a copy of the story and related illustrations and practiced retelling the story at home.
Effectiveness
After these experimental sessions were carried out, the research findings were that Participants made statically and clinically significant changes in their children’s story composition abilities. Conversely, there were no gains in narrative abilities, syntactic and working memory, and outcome measures. Also, the children also faced some difficulties paying attention to the entire activity. However, the children gained improvement on their self confidence in their narrative production skills.
Personal Evaluation
My personal thoughts were that children did benefit from this intervention. Although it was not a full success, this intervention did enhance the children’s confidence in their narrative production skills. I believe that for children with communication difficulties, it is extremely important for them to gain the confidence to speak. For Annie, she lacks of the confidence to accept her facial deformities. Hence I feel that she needs to gain the confidence to speak up and express her thoughts verbally.
Suggestions
However, there are some suggestions on how the teacher can modify this intervention to suit the learning needs of Annie. I suppose the duration of fifty minutes is too long for a six year old child. The duration can be about thirty minutes and the entire class can be included in this program. Young children can gain verbalization skills, creativity and other skills in storytelling. In addition, the teacher can extend children’s learning by allowing them to reenact the story. This also builds children’s confidence. Moreover, the teacher can pick stories which tell the children the importance of acceptance. This will enable the rest of the children to learn how to accept Annie as who she is.
Reference:
Swanson, L., Fey, M., Mills, C., & Hood, L. (200). Use of Narrative-Based Language Intervention With Children Who Have Specific Language Impairment. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 14(2), 131-143. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
This paper consists of a precise analysis about the intervention, effectives, personal evaluation and suggestions on the article about using narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) with children who have Specific Language Impairment, SLI (Swanson, Fey, Mills & Hood, 2005). This six weeks program of narrative based intervention was conducted with ten children aged seven to eight years old with SLI. Each intervention session targeted story content and sentence from using story retell and generation tasks. The article stated that throughout the program, the children showed increase confidence in their narrative production skills.
Intervention
The intervention sessions were conducted individually for each participant, each fifty minutes, held three times a week over the six weeks. There are three intermediate goals selected based on each child’s conversational and narrative samples. The targeted goals included post-modification of nouns, subordinating conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions, and verb phrase elaboration. The materials used were twenty six novel stories. The specific stories selected for each child were determined by the child’s syntactic goals. All stories contained each of the narrative components, setting, characters, problem, resolution, complication and ending. Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts was used to determine the number of total words.
The procedure of the NBLI started with a warm-up activity. The child retold the story from the story retell-imitation task based on the previous experiences ad practice from the previous session. Next is the story retell-imitation task. In this task, the child was asked to retell a story that contained multiple examples of the morphosyntactic or discourse-level target form on a component-by-component basis. The clinician highlighted the story’s main theme to enhance the child’s interest and to trigger the child’s prior knowledge of the story’s semantic details.
After which a short speech impairment drill was designed to provide the child with exposure to and production practice with his or her grammatical target and to require close attention to clinician models. The child would mimic the contrastive sentence and if achievable the targeted sentence. Followed by a story generation task the child selected a single picture from a choice of two or more. He or she was supposed to describe the scene and characters, and the clinician recapped the child’s introduction including all missing relevant information. At the end of the session, the child received a copy of the story and related illustrations and practiced retelling the story at home.
Effectiveness
After these experimental sessions were carried out, the research findings were that Participants made statically and clinically significant changes in their children’s story composition abilities. Conversely, there were no gains in narrative abilities, syntactic and working memory, and outcome measures. Also, the children also faced some difficulties paying attention to the entire activity. However, the children gained improvement on their self confidence in their narrative production skills.
Personal Evaluation
My personal thoughts were that children did benefit from this intervention. Although it was not a full success, this intervention did enhance the children’s confidence in their narrative production skills. I believe that for children with communication difficulties, it is extremely important for them to gain the confidence to speak. For Annie, she lacks of the confidence to accept her facial deformities. Hence I feel that she needs to gain the confidence to speak up and express her thoughts verbally.
Suggestions
However, there are some suggestions on how the teacher can modify this intervention to suit the learning needs of Annie. I suppose the duration of fifty minutes is too long for a six year old child. The duration can be about thirty minutes and the entire class can be included in this program. Young children can gain verbalization skills, creativity and other skills in storytelling. In addition, the teacher can extend children’s learning by allowing them to reenact the story. This also builds children’s confidence. Moreover, the teacher can pick stories which tell the children the importance of acceptance. This will enable the rest of the children to learn how to accept Annie as who she is.
Reference:
Swanson, L., Fey, M., Mills, C., & Hood, L. (200). Use of Narrative-Based Language Intervention With Children Who Have Specific Language Impairment. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 14(2), 131-143. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Eileen Tan, Group B
An area of intervention for that child is the construction of phonological working memory, as the child has speech impairment and communication difficulties due to facial deformities at birth. Phonological working memory strongly involves language processing and development. The working memory serves as an additional model component which will be influenced by speech perception, vocabulary development and phonological awareness. This will also have direct and indirect effects on emergent literacy. According to Brady (1997) and Rohl and Pratt (1995), tasks such as rime matching, onset matching or phoneme blending can be use to enhance the construction of phonological working memory. This can be practiced by teachers in school as she attends mainstream kindergarten. Speech and language therapist could also use this intervention to enhance child’s language. Through improvements of the phonological working memory child will be able to learn to communicate using simple words to improve her social skills. This will help her in her behavioral and social difficulties and increase her self-esteem so that she will not be extremely shy and withdrawn.
Hartmann, Rvachew, and Grawburg (2008) suggested that with the measures of phonological working memory, phonological awareness and emergent literacy knowledge could be additionally enhanced. With the increase knowledge of literacy and the ability to speak, child could learn to communicate better with people around her.
It is important for adults to speak clearly with the movements of the mouth for child with speech impairment to be able to see and imitate the words. Child needs constant repetition to reinforce the words learned. The phonological working memory enable child to learn and practice the sound of words and thus enhance literacy awareness. Parents can cooperate with the therapist or even teachers to improve and practice the words learned. As child’s language improved, she will be able to communicate simple instructions with teachers and friends which will reduce frustration and misbehaviors.
Parents, teachers and therapists play a vital role in child’s learning. Teachers can use pictures to facilitate in learning the phonological words. Music and movement activities could be used as a tool to involve child in the learning of words and speaking. Children understand better when learning is interesting and they are able to relate to their environment. Teachers should also educate the children in the class to accept and help her so they will not tease her for her facial deformities. It is also very important for parents and therapists to practice and reinforce the certain words they want to teach to reduce confusion and overwhelming the child.
On the whole, measures of phonological working memory enhanced child’s literacy and enable child to communicate better. However, teachers, therapists and parents have to use it consistently to teach the child. Teachers should also educate other children and let the other children in the class be involved in helping Annie to overcome her difficulties.
Reference:
Brady, S. (1997). Ability to encode phonological representations: An underlying difficulty of poor readers. In B. A. Blachman (Ed.), Foundation of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention (pp. 21–47). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rohl, M., & Pratt, C. (1995). Phonological awareness, verbal working memory and the acquisition of literacy. Reading and Writing, 7, 327–360
Hartmann, E., Rvachew, S., & Grawburg, M. (2008, October). Phonological Awareness in Preschoolers With Spoken Language Impairment: Toward a Better Understanding of Causal Relationships and Effective Intervention. A Constructive Comment on Rvachew and Grawburg's (2006) Study. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 51(5), 1215-1218. Retrieved September 2, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
Hartmann, Rvachew, and Grawburg (2008) suggested that with the measures of phonological working memory, phonological awareness and emergent literacy knowledge could be additionally enhanced. With the increase knowledge of literacy and the ability to speak, child could learn to communicate better with people around her.
It is important for adults to speak clearly with the movements of the mouth for child with speech impairment to be able to see and imitate the words. Child needs constant repetition to reinforce the words learned. The phonological working memory enable child to learn and practice the sound of words and thus enhance literacy awareness. Parents can cooperate with the therapist or even teachers to improve and practice the words learned. As child’s language improved, she will be able to communicate simple instructions with teachers and friends which will reduce frustration and misbehaviors.
Parents, teachers and therapists play a vital role in child’s learning. Teachers can use pictures to facilitate in learning the phonological words. Music and movement activities could be used as a tool to involve child in the learning of words and speaking. Children understand better when learning is interesting and they are able to relate to their environment. Teachers should also educate the children in the class to accept and help her so they will not tease her for her facial deformities. It is also very important for parents and therapists to practice and reinforce the certain words they want to teach to reduce confusion and overwhelming the child.
On the whole, measures of phonological working memory enhanced child’s literacy and enable child to communicate better. However, teachers, therapists and parents have to use it consistently to teach the child. Teachers should also educate other children and let the other children in the class be involved in helping Annie to overcome her difficulties.
Reference:
Brady, S. (1997). Ability to encode phonological representations: An underlying difficulty of poor readers. In B. A. Blachman (Ed.), Foundation of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention (pp. 21–47). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rohl, M., & Pratt, C. (1995). Phonological awareness, verbal working memory and the acquisition of literacy. Reading and Writing, 7, 327–360
Hartmann, E., Rvachew, S., & Grawburg, M. (2008, October). Phonological Awareness in Preschoolers With Spoken Language Impairment: Toward a Better Understanding of Causal Relationships and Effective Intervention. A Constructive Comment on Rvachew and Grawburg's (2006) Study. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 51(5), 1215-1218. Retrieved September 2, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
Jaime Tan (Class A)
Case 1: Annie
(i) The intervention – Social skills Social Stories and Visual support systems
Delays in speech and language development can significantly affect a child’s social skills and can impede appropriate interactions with their peers. Children with speech and language delays can become frustrated and conflicts can frequently occur due to misunderstandings. “Studies of preschool and school-age children with language delays indicate that deficits in language are associated with increased problem behaviors” (Irwin, Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2002, p.1324) as cited in Fisher and Haufe, (2009).
Educational literature review suggests that the use of Social Stories and visual
supports improve social skills in children with disabilities. “A Social Story is one positive behavior intervention for students with autism. A Social Story is a short, simple story
written from the perspective of the child that delivers instruction on appropriate social
behavior” (Crozier & Tincani, 2005, p. 150). “They focus on describing and explaining
the cues in that situation as well as teaching appropriate responses (Scattone, Tingstrom
& Wilczynski, 2006, p. 211).
(ii) Its effectiveness (as reported in the journal article)
In this journal article, two teacher researchers from two different schools did an action research project to improve the social skills of a small number of preschool, first grade and second grade students through the use of Social Stories and visual supports. This research was done over a span of 12 weeks. The objective was to create a more positive learning environment. The teacher researchers wanted to increase the social skills of students who had been diagnosed with learning difficulties and special needs which encompassed eight preschool children. The children had difficulties with knowing how to appropriately interact with their peers- reading and understanding non-verbal cues and body language, turn-taking, sharing and conflict resolution. Having difficulties in these social skills areas hindered the children from sustaining and maintaining positive peer relationships which was a similar case to Annie’s.
The intervention consisted of with a pre-assessment, post-assessment and six intervention tools which involved the children, peers and parents- Parent Social Skills Rating Scale, Teacher Social Skills Rating Scale, Sharing Checklist, Turn-Taking Checklist, Journal Reflection Template-Sharing, and Journal Reflection Template -Turn-Taking. In addition, visual supports and modeling were done and a Social Story on a different area of difficulty (e.g. turn-taking, sharing) was told daily.
Through the reflective journals of the two teacher researchers, it was evident that the intervention showed gradual improvements. The overall intervention showed positive results as the children displayed more tolerance in turn-taking and that there was a drastic improvement to their impulse control and cooperation in groups. On top of that, they were able to express themselves using appropriate social skills.
(iii) Personal evaluation how the child will benefit from this intervention
From the examples of tools used in the journal article, I strongly believe that Annie will benefit from this intervention. I feel that even though she has speech impairment, the illustrations in the social stories can help her to understand the appropriate social behaviors towards friends. Also, she can learn from the conflict resolutions in the stories and model the behaviors illustrated. This will prevent her from biting her peers when she gets agitated or frustrated.
Further, the use of social stories will help the other children understand that everyone is different and that they should accept diversity. This will help children to be receptive towards interacting with Annie instead of mocking her due to her facial deformity. I also like how the intervention involves parents as well. This provides additional support for both teachers and parents. On top of that, I feel that Annie will gain an increase in self-esteem and sense of belonging through the small group activities.
Lastly, the use of visual support system can aid Annie in expressing herself or needs in ways which are discernible by her teacher and peers. Thus, I believe that the use of social stories and visual cues will not only benefit Annie but also her teachers and classmates.
(iv) Suggestions on how you can make adjustments to cater to the needs of the
child and to facilitate integration of the child / the intervention activity into
your classroom
- Modifying the plot of the social stories to suit the needs of the child or address certain specific areas of concern (e.g. bullying).
- Involve other children in the intervention (e.g. dramatization of the story)
- Using non-verbal forms of expression such as pantomime and charades.
- Extend the intervention by getting children to art or write their thought and feelings after the social story.
Reference:
Fisher, K., & Haufe, T. (2009, May 1). Developing Social Skills in Children Who Have Disabilities through the Use of Social Stories and Visual Supports. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED504818) Retrieved September 6, 2009, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/43/dc/73.pdf.
Goh Tze Chee - Group A
Topic: Case study 1
Area of intervention
It is stated in the case study that Annie tends to bite her classmates, and is extremely shy and withdrawn especially when she is teased by her friends over her facial deformities. She also has speech impairment and communication difficulties. The area of intervention I would be working on would be speech impairment as I feel that the above problem behaviour shown by Annie are a result of her inability to express her thoughts and emotions verbally, thus resulting in her expressing her feelings in the form of actions (in this case, violence).
The intervention
The journal is targeted at promoting reading in students with speech impairments as a result of a physical disability. It was mentioned in the journal that three students with severe physical and speech impairments took part in a study where the Nonverbal Reading Approach (Heller, Fredrick, & Diggs, 1999; Heller, Fredrick, Tumlin, & Brineman, 2002 as cited in Heller, Wolff & Coleman-Martin, 2007) was used. The Nonverbal Reading Approach places focus on subvocal rehearsal, where students are taught to decode unfamiliar words and evaluated systematically on their ability to read words. It can be used together with phonic-based reading curriculum to assist students with physical speech and physical impairments. Students are encouraged to pronounce words slowly with the teacher regardless of their speech clarity. Students are then taught a decoding process by first using internal speech to vocalize the syllables, followed by bringing the sounds together without pausing, while the teacher pronounces the word aloud, and lastly bringing the sounds together quickly while the teacher pronounces the word aloud again. Additional instruction can be provided by the teacher after the students pronounce the words.
Effectiveness
The study (Heller et al., 2002) examined the effectiveness of using the Nonverbal Reading Approach to teach students to decode words, and their ability to apply the decoding skills to words they do not know which have similar phonemic sequences. The results show that the participants were able to learn the targeted words, and were either able to decode a set of unknown words with similar phonemic sequences or learn new words at a fast pace with minimal additional instruction.
Personal Evaluation
Personally, I feel unsure whether Annie will benefit from this intervention, as the study did not mention the age group of the students. However, if the user of the Nonverbal Reading Approach is familiar with it, I feel that it can be adapted such that young children with speech impairments can benefit from the approach as well. In Annie’s case, I feel that the Nonverbal Reading Approach might benefit her if it was used to introduce expressive vocabulary such that Annie would have the ability to express her feelings.
Suggestions for adjustments
I think that picture cards can be used in conjunction with the Nonverbal Reading Approach such that when Annie has difficulty pronouncing the words, she can make use of the cards to express how she feels. Also, the Nonverbal Reading Approach might be taught in the form of songs to make it easier for Annie to link the syllables of words together.
Reference
Heller, K. W., & Coleman-Martin, M. B. (2007). Strategies for promoting literacy for students who have physical disabilities. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 69(4), 28.2 Retrieved from Expanded Academic ASAP database.
Area of intervention
It is stated in the case study that Annie tends to bite her classmates, and is extremely shy and withdrawn especially when she is teased by her friends over her facial deformities. She also has speech impairment and communication difficulties. The area of intervention I would be working on would be speech impairment as I feel that the above problem behaviour shown by Annie are a result of her inability to express her thoughts and emotions verbally, thus resulting in her expressing her feelings in the form of actions (in this case, violence).
The intervention
The journal is targeted at promoting reading in students with speech impairments as a result of a physical disability. It was mentioned in the journal that three students with severe physical and speech impairments took part in a study where the Nonverbal Reading Approach (Heller, Fredrick, & Diggs, 1999; Heller, Fredrick, Tumlin, & Brineman, 2002 as cited in Heller, Wolff & Coleman-Martin, 2007) was used. The Nonverbal Reading Approach places focus on subvocal rehearsal, where students are taught to decode unfamiliar words and evaluated systematically on their ability to read words. It can be used together with phonic-based reading curriculum to assist students with physical speech and physical impairments. Students are encouraged to pronounce words slowly with the teacher regardless of their speech clarity. Students are then taught a decoding process by first using internal speech to vocalize the syllables, followed by bringing the sounds together without pausing, while the teacher pronounces the word aloud, and lastly bringing the sounds together quickly while the teacher pronounces the word aloud again. Additional instruction can be provided by the teacher after the students pronounce the words.
Effectiveness
The study (Heller et al., 2002) examined the effectiveness of using the Nonverbal Reading Approach to teach students to decode words, and their ability to apply the decoding skills to words they do not know which have similar phonemic sequences. The results show that the participants were able to learn the targeted words, and were either able to decode a set of unknown words with similar phonemic sequences or learn new words at a fast pace with minimal additional instruction.
Personal Evaluation
Personally, I feel unsure whether Annie will benefit from this intervention, as the study did not mention the age group of the students. However, if the user of the Nonverbal Reading Approach is familiar with it, I feel that it can be adapted such that young children with speech impairments can benefit from the approach as well. In Annie’s case, I feel that the Nonverbal Reading Approach might benefit her if it was used to introduce expressive vocabulary such that Annie would have the ability to express her feelings.
Suggestions for adjustments
I think that picture cards can be used in conjunction with the Nonverbal Reading Approach such that when Annie has difficulty pronouncing the words, she can make use of the cards to express how she feels. Also, the Nonverbal Reading Approach might be taught in the form of songs to make it easier for Annie to link the syllables of words together.
Reference
Heller, K. W., & Coleman-Martin, M. B. (2007). Strategies for promoting literacy for students who have physical disabilities. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 69(4), 28.2 Retrieved from Expanded Academic ASAP database.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Diana Tay Group B
(i) The intervention
Case Study 1-Intervention to be focused on Annie’s communication skills to deal with social interactions with her peers which in turn will help her to cope with or minimize behavioral problems, such as biting in the classroom.
From the case study, I gained an understanding that Annie is probably a child who uses minimal verbal communication to express herself, hence, when she is upset with her peers; she exhibited inappropriate behavior for example, biting her classmates to demonstrate her intension, or becomes withdrawn to the group of children when she is being teased by them. Hence, one of the interventions could be adopted to help Annie in expressing herself and enhancing her speeches is through the use of “Picture Exchange Communication System” (PECS). In PECS, picture cards are used to symbolize ideas and thoughts. The picture cards are used to encourage more spoken language. According to Spencer, Petersen and Gillam (2008), the PECS, is a method adopted by teachers or therapist to help children with Autism in their communication skills, especially for those who are non verbal. According to Bondy and Frost (1994), when using PECS, the child will goes through 6 phases during the learning process, they are: Teaching the physically assisted exchange, expanding spontaneity, simultaneous discrimination of pictures, building sentence structure, responding to “What do you want?”, commenting in response to a question and finally introducing additional language concept (Phase 6 and beyond). For Annie’s case, I feel it is applicable to her because she will require assistance to help her further enhanced her communication skills. I feel Annie could start at phase 4 where she is taught to ask for requests by using “I want”, as she had already acquire the fundamental skills in spoken language. As Annie is requesting for something, the picture on “I want” is already attached to a board, thus, Annie needs to pick a picture card which reflect what she wants and place onto the board. The purpose of the intervention is to provide Annie the opportunity to produce speech and not to replace speech with the picture cards. Teachers should continue to use words or sentences to help the child to form sentences during the process.
From the case study, I gained an understanding that Annie is probably a child who uses minimal verbal communication to express herself, hence, when she is upset with her peers; she exhibited inappropriate behavior for example, biting her classmates to demonstrate her intension, or becomes withdrawn to the group of children when she is being teased by them. Hence, one of the interventions could be adopted to help Annie in expressing herself and enhancing her speeches is through the use of “Picture Exchange Communication System” (PECS). In PECS, picture cards are used to symbolize ideas and thoughts. The picture cards are used to encourage more spoken language. According to Spencer, Petersen and Gillam (2008), the PECS, is a method adopted by teachers or therapist to help children with Autism in their communication skills, especially for those who are non verbal. According to Bondy and Frost (1994), when using PECS, the child will goes through 6 phases during the learning process, they are: Teaching the physically assisted exchange, expanding spontaneity, simultaneous discrimination of pictures, building sentence structure, responding to “What do you want?”, commenting in response to a question and finally introducing additional language concept (Phase 6 and beyond). For Annie’s case, I feel it is applicable to her because she will require assistance to help her further enhanced her communication skills. I feel Annie could start at phase 4 where she is taught to ask for requests by using “I want”, as she had already acquire the fundamental skills in spoken language. As Annie is requesting for something, the picture on “I want” is already attached to a board, thus, Annie needs to pick a picture card which reflect what she wants and place onto the board. The purpose of the intervention is to provide Annie the opportunity to produce speech and not to replace speech with the picture cards. Teachers should continue to use words or sentences to help the child to form sentences during the process.
(ii) Its effectiveness (as reported in the journal article)
Kravits, Kamp, Kemmerer and Potucek (2002) conducted a study on the effectiveness of PECS on a 6 years old child’s communication and social interaction skills. Before the intervention, the child used mostly non verbal communications such as smile and gestures. However, with the use of PECS over a period of time, the child’s results have revealed an increase in spontaneous language, she began to ask question, take initiatives and provided feedbacks in school as well as at home. Her length of period with peer interaction was also measured and it showed there was an increase in duration.
Kravits, Kamp, Kemmerer and Potucek (2002) conducted a study on the effectiveness of PECS on a 6 years old child’s communication and social interaction skills. Before the intervention, the child used mostly non verbal communications such as smile and gestures. However, with the use of PECS over a period of time, the child’s results have revealed an increase in spontaneous language, she began to ask question, take initiatives and provided feedbacks in school as well as at home. Her length of period with peer interaction was also measured and it showed there was an increase in duration.
(iii) Your personal evaluation how the child will benefit from this intervention
I feel Annie will benefit from this intervention, if it is carried out consistently and appropriately in school with the teachers and as well as extended into home learning with her parents. This intervention has been proven to be successful for children with non verbal or minimal communication, these children have shown improvement and made progress in their spoken language, and hence, I feel Annie will be able to benefit from it as well, as her condition is not very severe. Annie will require constant reinforcement and encouragement as she moved towards the goal.
(iv) Your suggestions how you can make adjustments to cater to the needs of the child and to facilitate integration of the child / the intervention activity into your classroom.
I feel besides receiving help from the adults, such as the parents, teachers and the therapists, peer influence and interaction also plays a vital role. The children were teasing Annie because they do not understand her condition, and what causes Annie to react towards them when she is feeling upset or shy. The teacher needs to talk to the children about Annie and think of ways on how they can help her as a class together.
In addition, with the intervention provided to Annie to help her increase her speech, the teacher should also assist Annie in responding towards her peers, instead of becoming withdrawn each time her peers teased her of her condition. As the interventions advance, it is important to conduct frequent updates with Annie’s parents on her progress. They could share with each other if the method they were using is effective for Annie and when is Annie ready to achieve the next phase. To allow Annie to have a good experience during the interventions, teachers and parents are encouraged to focus on Annie’s interest or strength areas to achieve the areas that needed attention in. During lesson time, the teacher may need to use a variety of tools or techniques to keep both Annie and other children engaged.
References:
Spencer, T.D., Peterson, D.B. & Gillam, S.L. (2008). Picture exchange communication system (PECS) or sign language. Retrieved on September 8, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=35048338&site=ehost-live
Spencer, T.D., Peterson, D.B. & Gillam, S.L. (2008). Picture exchange communication system (PECS) or sign language. Retrieved on September 8, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=35048338&site=ehost-live
Bondy, A.S. & Frost, L.A. (1994). The picture exchange communication system. Retrieved on September 8, 2009, from
http://search.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9410195336&site=ehost-live
Kravits, T,R., Kamps, D.M., Kemmerer, K. & Potucek, J. (2002). Brief Report: Increasing Communication Skills for an Elementary-Aged Student with Autism Using the Picture Exchange Communication System. Retrieved on September 8, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=104&sid=45b79058-5462-4058-83a1-07ff99dc73d0%40sessionmgr10
Kravits, T,R., Kamps, D.M., Kemmerer, K. & Potucek, J. (2002). Brief Report: Increasing Communication Skills for an Elementary-Aged Student with Autism Using the Picture Exchange Communication System. Retrieved on September 8, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com.libwww3.np.edu.sg/ehost/pdf?vid=7&hid=104&sid=45b79058-5462-4058-83a1-07ff99dc73d0%40sessionmgr10
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