Development of Intraverbal Communication Skills in Communication Groups for Children of Primary School Age with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Objectives. The long-term group work with adolescents and adults with ASD, which is presented in the article, aims to organize free, informal interaction between them in a specially organized environment. The relevance of such work within the framework of the Club project is related to the difficulties of adaptation and interaction remaining to vary ing degrees in people with ASD, their passivity in communication; the novelty is due to its duration and duration of tracking the catamneses of the group members (more than 20 years). Methods. Over the years, 22 people with ASD, whose age is currently from 16 to 38 years old, have become partici pants in the project. Weekly meetings are held on the basis of various types of activities, among which the most im portant place is occupied by a joint conversation, exchange of news and impressions among participants. An adapted environment is described: predictable, safe, friendly, in which it is possible to stimulate free spontaneous interaction of young people with ASD with their peers. Tracking the dynamics of participants is carried out through observation, conversations with themselves and with family members, as well as through the analysis of working videos from dif ferent years. The functions of the specialists leading the meetings are listed: moderation of the conversation, monitor ing the implementation of the rules and the condition of each participant, stimulating interest and emotional involve ment in communication. The specifics of the work of the specialists are related to the need for coordinated actions, a dosed appeal to their own experiences and experiences in the process of informal communication. Results. The positive dynamics in the interaction of the members of the “Club” project with each other, in the development of their social skills, is described. The remaining passivity in communication and the weakness of spontaneous interaction between group members is also noted. Conclusions: It is said about the possibility of psychological development of a person with ASD in favorable conditions during adult age periods; but if the work on organizing informal communication had been started at primary school age, then its developmental potential would have been significantly higher.

Emotional and Meaningful Approach to the Group Work: Informal Interaction among Young People with ASD in the “Club” Project

Kostin

2024

Communication without Barriers: Development of Intraverbal Skills in Adolescents with ASD in Group Sessions

Karetnikova

2024

Objectives. People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have poor intraverbal skills, which makes communication especially difficult for them because they appear disinterested in communication if they lack these skills. In a group of adolescents with ASD, work was carried out to study the level of development of intelligence and adaptive skills in order to develop a comprehensive program for the development of intraverbal skills for further socialization and increased independence. The work was carried out in three stages: assessment, program development, development of intraverbal skills. Methods. The study involved 9 adolescents (3 girls and 6 boys) aged 11—13 years with ASD. At the assessment stage, the level of cognitive development was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Leiter-3 International Productivity Scale. Adaptive functioning was assessed using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale. When determining the number of initiatives to communicate, the observation method was used with recording of data in information collection sheets. The group training program, compiled based on the diagnostic results of the participants, included practices with proven effectiveness: visual support methods, video modeling, social stories. Results. Studies of intellectual development have revealed differences in the level of intelligence among the group participants: 3 people have an age norm level, 4 — a borderline level, 2 — a decrease in intellectual level. At the same time, the data on the Vineland school of adaptive behavior in all 9 study participants are below the age norm (the complex final indicator did not exceed 75), primarily due to violations in the field of socialization. This confirms the presence of communication difficulties in adolescents with ASD, regardless of the level of intellectual development. The identified common features and individual results of the participants were used to develop a comprehensive program of group classes on the formation of intraverbal skills in adolescents. The lessons took into account the existing deficits: difficulties in maintaining attention during communication, understanding the figurative meaning of words, recognizing facial expressions and gestures, as well as an excessive tendency to monologue. Conclusions. The obtained data obtained and the results of observation of each study participant made it possible to develop a pilot comprehensive program of group classes aimed at developing intraverbal skills. At the end of the program, repeated testing is planned to compare changes in the main areas of life for all group participants.

The Specifics of Learning Dialog Skills by Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Adilzhanova,

Tishina

2024

Objectives. The variability of disorders in the formation of dialog skills of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) does not always depend on the level of intellectual development. In issues of speech development, it is important to take into account both the specifics of understanding the reversed speech at the level of interrogative statements, and the aspects of structuring and semantics of the answer proposed by the child with ASD himself. In order to study the specifics of mastering the basic conversational skills by children with ASD who have unimpaired intellect, a special pilot study was designed and conducted. Methods. The peculiarities of understanding questions of various purposes and structures by students of the age of 5—7 years (group 1 — 51 children) with unimpaired intellect and ability of verbal communication were studied. Children of group 1 and preschoolers of group 2 of younger age (from 3 years 10 months to 5 years 2 months, a total of 28 participants) were presented with 48 questions, hierarchically organized based on ontogenetic patterns associated with the formation of cognitive concepts, which are accessible to a typically developing child by a certain age. The results obtained in both groups were compared. Results. Only 2.3% of the proposed 3,708 questions remained unanswered, and the number of correct (adequate) answers, depending on age, tended to increase (for example, preschoolers with ASD of 4 years gave 68% correct answers, preschoolers of 5 years — 73%). The study shows that, in terms of nature and specifics of dialog skills, students with ASD 5-7 years old have no significant differences from the typically developing preschoolers of a younger age group: the number and quality of correct answers from children with ASD at the age of 6 years is comparable with the number of correct answers from typically developing preschoolers of 4 years old. Conclusions. In the process of forming dialog skills in the structure of developmental education for children with ASD, the teacher should rely solely on the traditional spontaneous question-and-answer method, they should also consider the semantics and pragmatics of the proposed lexical material. The data obtained will be useful for special education teachers in selecting the content for speech development, taking into account the individual typological characteristics of children with ASD.