An evaluation of the Total Communication Approach for Teaching Language Skills to Developmentally Delayed Preschool Children

Abstract

This study compares the effectiveness of a seven-month total communication intervention with two, more traditional infant stimulation programs. The sample contained twenty Down's Syndrome children and four normal but language delayed children, aged 18 to 36 months (11 girls and 13 boys). Scores on the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language (REEL) scale, the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD) scale, and the Gesell Developmental Schedules, as well as tallies of the number of acquired words and language signs were obtained before and after intervention. Standardized change score analyses reveal that the total communication group scored significantly higher on the REEL-Expressive scale and in the number of acquired signs. Moreover, acquisition of language signs was not associated with a decline in oral communication as measured by word acquisition. Although the evidence favors use of total communication with preschool, language delayed children, additional research is recommended.

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