Facilitating communication development in a language-disordered child

Abstract

Current methods of language therapy have offered limited success with children who exhibit difficulties in social-interaction accompanying a severe language impairment. The following case study describes the content, implementation, and use of a therapy approach integrating the acquisition of language and social-interactive skills. At 3;1, the child engaged only occasionally in interactions with others, used two words, and consistently failed to respond to verbal communications. By the end of the 3-month intervention period, the child frequently engaged in interactions with the clinician. His nonverbal communications dramati cally increased. Imitative and non-imitative verbal communications also increased. The results suggest that a non-intrusive, facilitative approach produced significant improvements in the child's social and communica tive skills.