Enseñanza de funciones comunicativas orientadas a la interacción social en un caso de síndrome de Rett

Abstract

Background and aims

Choice making and requesting have traditionally been the focus of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) intervention in Rett syndrome (RS). However, scant literature exists about some other communication functions teaching. The aim of this study is to teach the social interaction function of communication using AAC symbols.

Materials and methods

A multiple baseline study was carried out to investigate to what extent a girl with Rett syndrome aged 11 would learn to communicate for social interaction making compliments, asking for favours, and protesting assertively selecting AAC symbols using an eye-gaze system. The intervention consisted of the creation of opportunities for learning these communication functions and the application of prompts. Baseline, intervention, and maintenance were all implemented within a special education classroom in a public school, with different people and different materials, from the very onset, to promote generalization.

Results

After intervention, the participant displayed the ability to make compliments («How pretty you are!»; «How nice you are!» and «I like your costume jewellery!»), to ask for favours («Let me see Dora the explorer»; «May I borrow your toy?»; «I would like to rest»), and to protest assertively («I don’t fancy it»; «Later the better» and «I’d rather do it later») without any prompting, learning generalization outside the learning contexts and sustained learning over time.

Conclusions

It is concluded that this communication intervention had the potential to improve social communication and assist in the development of social relationships between the participant and her peers, teachers, and therapists.