Communication Strategies of Younger Siblings of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Selected Tasks

Abstract

Task-based learning uses language as a tool for expressing, not a body ofknowledge to be memorized, thus, using tasks to improve student’s language skills.This study aimed to identify and evaluate the communication strategies used byyounger siblings of ASD children in selected domestic tasks and characterizethe response of ASD children to these communication strategies. Five pairs ofsiblings were tasked to finish a set of household chores and were video-recorded.The videos were transcribed and analyzed. Younger siblings, researcher and anobserver assessed the strategies based on six criteria. Strategies observed in thestudy are affirmation, correction and modeling strategies. It showed that thecriteria with the highest and lowest scores are speed of the ASD child’s responseand ability to negotiate is the criterion, respectively. Strategies used are effective ineliciting fast responses from the ASD child but not in facilitating communication.Results showed that communication strategies induced responses on ASD child; these were categorized as compliance, non-compliance and neutral. Results show that younger sibling use affirmative strategies to continue guiding theASD child to compliance and finish the domestic task. When the ASD child,however, manifests non-compliance and/or neutrality younger siblings the use ofcorrective and modeling strategies are needed to direct them back to compliance. Keywords: Special Education, communication strategies, Autism Spectrum Disorder,Task-Based Learning, descriptive-evaluative design, Philippines