Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues

1. Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual Impairments FPG Child Development Institute, 2005 Communication Development and the Impact of Visual Impairments Session 2 Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues

2. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • describe seven levels of communicative competence. • describe the development of communication and language in typically developing children from birth through 36 months. • define language, and describe five elements of language. 2A

3. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • explain the importance of caregiver responsiveness in parent-child attachment and communication. • describe the importance of concept development for communication and why children with visual impairments may develop concepts differently. 2B

4. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • describe six modes of nonlinguistic/ prelinguistic communication, and explain how visual impairments may prevent children from engaging in typical nonlinguistic/prelinguistic communicative behaviors. 2C

5. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • describe the potential impact of visual impairments on nonlinguistic/prelinguistic communication, including the development of idiosyncratic communicative behaviors of children with visual impairments and additional disabilities. • describe the potential impact of visual impairments, with and without additional disabilities, on language development. 2D

6. Seven Levels of Communicative Competence As children develop, they become more competent at communicating and progress through seven levels of competence. Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 1987 2E

7. Levels I and II • Level I: Pre-intentional behavior Reflexive behavior that reflects the child’s state (e.g., hungry, sleepy) • Level II: Intentional behavior Behavior is intentional but not intended to communicate At these levels, caregivers interpret behaviors as communicative although the child does not intend to communicate. Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 1987 2F

8. Levels III and IV • Level III: Nonconventional presymbolic communication Nonconventional gestures used in an attempt to affect caregiver’s behavior Examples: laugh, babble • Level IV: Conventional presymbolic communication Conventional gestures used to influence caregiver’s behavior Examples: wave, point, nod, kiss Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 1987 2G

9. Levels V and VI • Level V: Concrete Symbolic CommunicationUse of concrete symbols that share features of the referent Examples: make animal sounds, use depictive gestures (e.g., arms up for ‘hold me’) • Level VI: Abstract Symbolic Communication Limited use of abstract symbols (e.g., spoken words) Example: speech or sign used one word at a time Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 1987 2H

10. Level VII • Level VII: Formal Symbolic Communication Rule-bound (adult-like) use of abstract communication system Example: combining two or more words to communicate Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 1987 2I

11. Infants attend to human voices and become excited when parents approach. Infants begin to smile when adults smile and calm when picked up while crying. Infants respond to their name by 6 months. Adamson, 1996 Sachs, 1997 Receptive Communication in Infants 2J

12. Newborn infants do not intend to communicate—they simply react. Nonintentional communication dominates the first 6 to 8 months of life as children learn to engage in behaviors that elicit adult responses. Owens, 2001 Sachs, 1997 Nonintentional Communication 2K

13. Expressive Communication in Infants Examples of early nonlinguistic communication include • crying, • laughing, • cooing, and • babbling. Owens, 2001 Sachs, 1997 2L

14. Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Communication Language is symbolic—based on sounds that represent objects, people, events, actions, etc. Nonsymbolic communication includes • vocalizations (e.g., babbling, crying), • gestures, • facial expressions, and • social referencing (i.e., looking to an adult to determine how to respond to a novel situation). 2M

15. Nonsymbolic Communication Other forms of nonsymbolic communication include • joint visual attention (i.e., looking at the same object that an adult looks at) and • responsiveness to a communicative partner. Infants use nonsymbolic communication • to gain an adult’s attention and • to express desires and needs. 2N

16. Individual Differences in Development • Children with and without disabilities vary considerably in the ages at which they attain communication and language milestones. • The ages associated with milestone acquisition in typically developing children provide a reference point only, and should be viewed cautiously. • Children with disabilities, and particularly those with multiple disabilities, may show tremendous variability in the ages at which they attain developmental milestones. 2O

17. First Words • 10 to 18 months: first true word • 10 to 18 months: points to an object and uses word approximation • 12 to 18 months: vocabulary of 3 to 20 words; 50% of words are nouns • 12 to 18 months: uses phrases such as “All gone” and “Want more”; begins using verbs and adjectives 2P

18. Expressive Language of the Toddler • 2 years: approximately 65% of speech is intelligible, with ~50 recognizable words • 2½ years: 70% of speech is intelligible, with ~200 words • Answers Where?, What . . .doing?, and What do you hear? questions • Uses two-word phrases including negation (e.g., “No bed”), possessives (e.g., “Mommy car”), and pronouns (e.g., “Me Janey”) 2Q

19. Expressive Language of the Toddler • 3 years: 80% of speech is usually intelligible, with ~500 words • Asks simple questions and repeats sentences • Uses articles such as “a” and “the” • Uses contractions and –ing endings • 25% of utterances are nouns and 25% are verbs 2R

20. Receptive Language of the Toddler 12 to 18 months • Follows simple one-step commands • Points to one to three body parts • Identifies one or two objects from a group of objects 2S

21. Receptive Language of the Toddler Between18 and 24 months • Comprehends about 300 words • Interested in listening to stories 2T

22. Receptive Language of the Toddler • 2½ years • Comprehends 500 words • Listens to 5-10 minutes of a story • Carries out two related commands • 3 years • Comprehends 900 words • Knows concept words such as in/on and big/little 2U

23. Elements of Language • Phonology—rules that govern the use of speech sounds • Morphology—rules that determine the internal organization of words • Semantics—rules that determine the meaning of words and word combinations 2V

24. Elements ofLanguage • Syntax—rules that govern the form or structure of a sentence • Pragmatics—rules that governs how a given language is used in different social contexts and environments 2W

25. Attachment describes the emotional connection between people in intimate relationships such as parent and child. Zeanah & Boris, 2000 Attachment 2X

26. Examples of behaviors that encourage attachment are crying, smiling, crawling toward a caregiver, and clinging to a caregiver. Attachment 2Y

27. Attachment behaviors may be delayed, occur less frequently, or occur with less clarity, in children with visual impairments. Caregiver responsiveness is the most important factor in encouraging attachment with children with visual impairments. Fazzi, 2002 Warren & Hatton, 2003 Attachment and Visual Impairment 2Z

28. Responsiveness includes reading children's signals to know when they want to interact, when they are tired or overstimulated, and what interests the child. Fazzi, 2002 Warren & Hatton, 2003 Attachment and Visual Impairment 2AA

29. Facilitating Attachment • Talk to children before picking them up. • Give children time to adjust to new situations. • Look for subtle responses such as changes in breathing or body posture. • Allow children to touch your face in order to recognize you. • Carry infants in cloth baby carriers (chest or back) during daily routines and when participating in community activities. Ferrell, 1985 2BB

30. Facilitating Nonlinguistic/Prelinguistic Communication Turn-taking—parents wait for child to act, then imitate, and follow child’s lead. 2CC

31. Facilitating Nonlinguistic/Prelinguistic Communication • Social routines—teach turn-taking and patterns while providing consistency for a communicative exchange. • Interactive matching—parents adjust their interaction style to match children’s pace, level of functioning, and lead. • Environmental arrangement—can prompt children to use gestures or vocalizations to secure toys. 2DD

32. A concept is a general idea that develops through repeated experiences with specific events. Children need repeated experiences with specific examples to generalize concepts. Warren & Hatton, 2003 What is concept development? 2EE

33. Children with visual impairments often have delays in motor development. Delayed motor development impedes movement and exploration. Lack of exploration directly impacts concept development and communication. Adelson & Fraiberg, 1974 Jan, Sykanda, & Groenveld, 1990 Palazesi, 1986 Movement 2FF

34. Concept Development • Provide children with multiple active experiences to build concepts. • Children learn concepts through natural experiences and play. • Concepts are best learned within functional activities. • Children with visual impairments are often delayed in concept development due to loss of visual input and delays in self-initiated movement. 2GG

35. Promoting Concept Development • Take advantage of naturally occurring events (e.g., accidents, a dump truck on the street). • Expose children to concepts in the home and in the community. 2HH

36. Six Modes of Nonlinguistic/Prelinguistic Communication There are six modes of nonlinguistic/prelinguistic communication between infant and caregiver. • Proxemic—movement toward or away from the caregiver • Kinesic—recognition of facial expressions • Gestural—child reaching toward caregiver 2II

37. Six Modes of Nonlinguistic/Prelinguistic Communication There are six modes of nonlinguistic communication between infant and caregiver. • Ocular—looking behaviors shared between infant and caregiver • Tactile-kinesthetic—touching between infant and caregiver • Vocal—vocalizations from the infant to the caregiver, combines vision and hearing 2JJ

38. All, except tactile-kinesthetic, rely partly or entirely on visual input. Visual impairments limit or alter other modes of communication. Visual impairments may decrease children’s communicative initiations about objects in the environment. Sapp, 2001 Influence of VI on Modes of Nonlinguistic Communication 2KK

39. Key Issues From Research • Children with visual impairments engage in nonlinguistic communication that is interpreted by and responded to by their mothers. • The repertoire of communicative behaviors of children with visual impairments is more limited than their peers. Preisler, 1991 Rowland, 1984 Urwin, 1984 2LL

40. Key Issues From Research • Mothers of children with visual impairments engage in patterns of communication that differ from mothers of typically sighted children. • Children with visual impairments smile, coo, and attempt to imitate adult speech at similar ages as children with sight. Preisler, 1991 Rowland, 1984 Urwin, 1984 2MM

41. Key Issues From Research • Children with visual impairments use imitation to elicit communicative responses from mothers, and they respond to their mothers’ use of routines for communication. • Children who are blind do not demonstrate conventional gestures (e.g. showing, waving, and nodding). Preisler, 1991 Rowland, 1984 Urwin, 1984 2NN

42. Mothers of children with visual impairments are more likely to be physically involved and to engage in controlling behaviors, modify common interactive routines to encourage child participation, and use routines that involve social play or imitation and are less likely to be action based. Behl et al., 1996 Chen, 1996 Maternal Interactions and VI 2OO

43. Children With VI and Additional Disabilities • Parents face additional challenges in interpreting nonintentional communication. • Mothers engage in fewer positive and more negative interactions with children with multiple disabilities than do mothers of sighted children. Baird et al., 1997 Rogers & Puchalski, 1984 2PP

44. Children With VI and Additional Disabilities • Mothers of children who have multiple disabilities identify fewer behaviors as communicative. • Children often vocalize less, are more negative in their vocalizations, and develop idiosyncratic ways of communicating. Baird et al., 1997 Rogers & Puchalski, 1984 2QQ

45. Development of Language in Children With VI • Phonology and morphology develop in children with VI at the same rate as in sighted children. • Semantics: • The first 50 words of children with VI have more specific nouns and fewer general nouns than those of sighted children. • Children with VI are less skilled at verbal classification than are sighted children. 2RR

46. Pragmatics • Sighted children learn pragmatics through communicative/social interactions with adults and other children. • Children with visual impairmentsdevelop social smiles at the same time as typically developing children. Conti-Ramsden & Pérez-Pereira, 1999 Rogers & Puchalski, 1986 2SS

47. Pragmatics Children with visual impairments • ask more questions, • use questions to request an action from communication partners, and • rely more on routines, repetition, and imitation than do sighted children. Erin, 1986; 1990 Pérez-Pereira & Castro, 1992; 1997 2TT

48. Pragmatics • During communication, children with visual impairmentshave fewer verbal turns and more nonverbal turns than do their sighted peers. • Mothers of children with blindness initiate more communication than do mothers of children with low vision. Conti-Ramsden & Pérez-Pereira, 1999 Rogers & Puchalski, 1986 2UU

49. Pragmatics • Children with visual impairments have difficulty learning to read body language. • Children with multiple disabilities initiate communication less frequently, and communicative partners spend less time facing the child. • Visual impairments may impede children’s ability to understand nonverbal aspects of communication. Kekelis & Prinze, 1996 Moore & McConachie, 1994 2VV

50. After speech develops, many aspects of communication are still nonverbal and can include turn-taking, body language, initiations, and responsivity. Hala, 1997 Nonverbal Communication and Visual Impairments 2WW