Abstract
Nonverbal autistic children have been successfully trained to communicate by the simultaneous use of speech and sign language. The advantage of this approach versus speech-only techniques may lie in these children's relative preference for visual input such as manual signs. Although apparently inapplicable due to its reliance on visual cues, sign language, accompanied by speech, has been used to train deaf-blind children. In the present case signs were used successfully with a blind 10- year- old autistic girl. After 8 months of training she was able to acquire a functional sign vocabulary, relying primarily on the tactile-kinesthetic and the auditory modalities. This newly acquired skill had a beneficial impact on the child's general functioning. The relevance of simultaneous communication or signed English for the blind autistic child is discussed.
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Reference notes
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This research was supported in part under National Health Research and Development project No. 606-1240-44 to Dr. M. M. Konstantareas. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Miss Krista Phillips for her dedicated work with B. K. and to Dr. Maureen Dennis for referring B. K. to us. Thanks are also due to B. K.'s parents for their enthusiasm in carrying out our suggestions in the home.
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Konstantareas, M.M., Hunter, D. & Sloman, L. Training a blind autistic child to communicate through signs. J Autism Dev Disord 12, 1–11 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531669
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531669