Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:49:18.379Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Applying psycholinguistic concepts to the treatment of an autistic child

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Marion Blank  and
Janet Milewski
Marion Blank*
Affiliation:
College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School
Janet Milewski
Affiliation:
College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School
*
Dr. Marion Blank, Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper describes a language program designed to allow an autistic 4-year-old child to acquire, in a near simultaneous manner, skill across a variety of sentence types. The training, which was focused on teaching the combinatorial and semantic properties of grammatical morphemes, resulted in the child's developing and using sentences whereas he had previously been limited to single words and rote phrases. The improvement occurred across a variety of settings and encompassed both elicited and spontaneous language. As expected from the autistic syndrome, those areas of language functioning requiring social skill (e.g., sustained dialogue) showed continued deficits.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 65 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baer, D. M., & Guess, D.Receptive training of adjectival inflection in mental retardates. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 1971, 4, 129–39.Google Scholar
Baltaxe, C. A. M., & Simmons, J. Q.Bedtime soliloquies and linguistic competence in autism. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders. 1977, 42, 376–93.Google Scholar
Bartak, L., Rutter, M., & Cox, A.A comparative study of infantile autism and specific developmental receptive language disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1975, 126, 127–45.Google Scholar
Bartolucci, G., Pierce, S. J., & Streiner, D.Cross-sectional studies of grammatical morphemes in autistic and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 1980, 10, 39–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bloom, L., & Lahey, M.Language development and language disorders. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978.Google Scholar
Borus, J. F., Greenfield, S., Spiegel, B., & Daniels, G.Establishing imitative speech employing operant techniques in a group setting. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1973, 38, 533–41.Google Scholar
Brown, Roger. A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1973.Google Scholar
Browning, E.The effectiveness of long and short verbal commands in inducing correct responses in three schizophrenic children. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1974, 4. 293–300.Google Scholar
Churchill, D. W.Language of autistic children. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978.Google Scholar
Colby, K. M.The rationale for computer-based treatment of language difficulties in non-speaking autistic children. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1973, 3, 254–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fay, W.On the basis of autistic echolalia. Journal of Communication Disorders, 1969, 2, 38–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fay, W., & Schuler, A.Emerging language in autistic children. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1980.Google Scholar
Frisch, S. A., & Schumaker, J. B.Training generalized receptive prepositions in retarded children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7, 611–21.Google Scholar
Garcia, E., Guess, D., & Byrnes, J.Development of syntax in a retarded girl using procedures of imitation, reinforcement, and modeling. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1973, 6, 299–310.Google Scholar
Guess, D., Sailor, W., Rutherford, G., & Baer, D. M.An experimental analysis of linguistic development: The productive use of the plural morpheme. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1968, 1, 297–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, S.Teaching language to nonverbal children—with emphasis on problems of generalization. Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 82, 565–80.Google Scholar
Konstantareas, M. M., Oxman, J., & Webster, C. D.Simultaneous communication with autistic and other severely dysfunctional nonverbal children. Journal of Communication Disorders. 1977, 10. 267–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lovaas, O. I., Berberich, J. P., Perloff, B. F., & Schaeffer, B.Acquisition of imitative speech by schizophrenic children. Science, 1966, 151, 703–7.Google Scholar
Mahoney, G., & Seeley, P. B. The role of the social agent in language acquisition. In Ellis, N. (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation. New York: Academic Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Maratsos, M. P. How to get from words to sentences. In Aaronson, D. & Rieber, R. (Eds.), Psycholinguistic research: Implications and applications. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1979.Google Scholar
Maratsos, M. P., & Chalkley, M. A. The internal language of children's syntax: The ontogenesis and representation of syntactic categories. In Nelson, K. (Ed.) Children's language (Vol. 2). New York: Gardner Press, 1980.Google Scholar
Philips, G., & Dyer, C.Late onset echolalia in autism and allied disorders. British Journal of Disordered Communication, 1977, 12, 47–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prizant, B. The functions of immediate echolalia in autistic children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, in press.Google Scholar
Schopler, E., & Reichler, R. J. Psychobiological referents for the treatment of autism. In Churchill, D. W., Alpern, G. D., & DeMeyer, M. K. (Eds.), Infantile autism. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1971.Google Scholar
Schuler, A.Echolalia: Issues and clinical applications. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1979, 44, 411–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slobin, D. I. Imitation and grammatical development in children. In Endler, N., Boulter, L., & Osser, H. (Eds.), Contemporary issues in developmental psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1968.Google Scholar
Stevens-Long, J., & Rasmussen, M.The acquisition of simple and compound sentence structure in an autistic child. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7, 473–79.Google Scholar
Twardosz, S., & Baer, D. M.Training two severely retarded adolescents to ask questions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1973, 6, 655–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wheeler, A. J., & Sulzer, B.Operant training and generalization of a verbal response form in a speech-deficient child. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1970, 3, 139–47.Google Scholar
Zurif, E. B.Language mechanisms: A neuropsychological perspective. American Scientist, 1980, 68, 305–11.Google Scholar