Teaching VOCA use as a communicative repair strategy.
Teaching a simple VOCA repair move turns reachers into intentional device users who also start new requests.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two students with developmental delay reached for things but had no words.
The team taught them to tap a VOCA when adults pretended not to understand the reach.
Sessions happened at school using a multiple-baseline design across the two kids.
What they found
Both kids quickly used the VOCA to fix breakdowns when the adult said "I don’t know what you want."
After repair was solid, the students also started pressing the device on their own to ask for new items.
Skills moved to new places and new people without extra teaching.
How this fits with other research
Lancioni et al. (2008) and Lancioni et al. (2009) extend this idea by adding microswitches. Their clients could both ask for help and turn on music or fans, showing VOCA repair can grow into full environmental control.
Davison et al. (1995) came first and saw more staff talk when a VOCA was present. Sigafoos et al. (2004) flips the lens: they train the child, not the adult, proving the device helps even when staff do nothing special.
Lerman et al. (1995) used the same multiple-baseline design but taught hand signs instead of VOCA. Both studies got positive results, so the design works for any communication mode you pick.
Why it matters
If you have clients who grab or cry when we “don’t get it,” teach them to hit a VOCA button as a repair move. The whole lesson takes one short session a day and quickly produces true requests. You get fewer tantrums and more spontaneous language for free.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Students with developmental disabilities often rely on prelinguistic behavior (e.g., reaching, leading) to communicate. When listeners fail to attend to prelinguistic behaviors, students may benefit from responding with an alternative form of communication to repair the breakdown. In the present study, we taught two students with developmental disabilities to repair communicative breakdowns by using a voice-output communication aid (VOCA). Intervention occurred at morning snack time when the students had the opportunity to access preferred items through prelinguistic behavior (e.g., reaching, guiding). Breakdowns occurred when the listener failed to attend to the student's initial request. Effects of the intervention were evaluated in a multiple-baseline design across subjects. Both students learned to use the VOCA to repair communicative breakdowns. As VOCA use was acquired as a repair strategy, the students also began to use the device to initiate requests when there had been no breakdown in communication. The intervention appeared to be an effective approach for supplementing prelinguistic behaviors with an additional option for communicating a request.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2004 · doi:10.1023/b:jadd.0000037417.04356.9c