Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Dissertation

Keywords

Children with disabilities--Means of communication; Teachers--Training of;

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine aided input as an intervention strategy for teaching children language and communication skills through Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This study examined whether a coaching package is effective for enabling teachers to use aided input strategies and also examine the impact of the aided input strategies on children’s communication skills. Data was collected for six weeks using the AB alternating reversal design with the last two weeks being maintenance phases without coaching and support. There were three pieces of data collected; student pre and posttests of target words, daily observations of teacher instruction with scoring on a fidelity checklist, and post interviews with the teachers. Results suggest teachers were able to learn to implement aided input through coaching and support. Furthermore, teachers were able to continue implementation with high-quality/fidelity when support is faded. Moreover, when comparing the mean growth of student word identification between the two conditions, a trend appeared higher with aided input having more words acquired than during the standard condition. All three teachers perceived aided input as having a direct impact on the child’s language and communication.

Year of Submission

2016

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Department of Special Education

First Advisor

Frank Kohler, Chair

Date Original

2016

Object Description

1 PDF file (viii, 76 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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