Spontaneous communication and its effectiveness in children with autism spectrum disorders/Spontana komunikacija i njena ucinkovitost u djece s poremecajem iz autisticnog spektra

• Published in: Hrvatska revija za rehabilitacijska istraživanja 2013-11, Vol.49 (2), p.115
• Main Author: Stosic, Jasmina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1331-3010

The goal of this study was to analyze communication spontaneity and its effectiveness in children with autism spectrum disorders included in regular and special preschool settings. Participants were 33 children (age range from 4 years to 6 years 9 months) with ASD. Data was collected via naturalistic observation using video. Video tapes were analyzed using continuum model of communication spontaneity (Carter and Hotchkiss, 2003). Effectiveness of communication was operationalized through outcomes of children's communication acts. T-test and one way ANOVA were used for data analysis. Results have shown that there is no significant difference in communication spontaneity between children included in regular and those included in special preschool settings. Further analysis has shown that antecedents or strategies used to prompt a communication act were similar in those settings. Effectiveness of communication is higher for children in regular than in special settings but in both settings less spontaneous communication acts were more effective. Results indicate that spontaneous communication is not encouraged through everyday routines. Key words: spontaneous communication, continuum model, autism spectrum disorders, Ciljevi ovog istrazivanja bili su analizirati spontanu komunikaciju djece sporemecajem iz autisticnog spektra (AS) ukljucene u redovni i one ukljucene u posebni predskolski program te utvrditi njenu ucinkovitost. Uzorak sudionika cinilo je 33 djece s poremecajima iz AS u dobi od 4 do 6, 9 godina. Podaci su prikupljeni koristenjem opservacije u prirodnom kontekstu bez sudjelovanja opazaca uz koristenje video snimke. Video snimke su kodirane i analizirane koristenjem modela kontinuuma za procjenu komunikacijske spontanosti (Carter i Hotchkiss, 2003). Varijabla ucinkovitost komunikacije operacionalizirana je obzirom na ishode odnosno posljedice komunikacije. Rezultati su pokazali da se komunikacijska spontanost djece ukljucene u redovni i one ukljucene u posebni program znacajno ne razlikuje. Dodatna analiza tog rezultata pokazala je da se vrsta, a i ucestalost koristenih poticaja za komunikaciju ne razlikuju izmecu ta dva programa. Ucinkovitost komunikacije djece u redovnom programu veca je od ucinkovitosti komunikacije djece u posebnom programu, no u oba programa ucinkovitost je veca kad je spontanost komunikacije nizeg stupnja, odnosno kad je za komunikacijski cin djetetu potrebna veca podrska. Rezultati ukazuju na nedovoljno poticanje komunikacij