The effectiveness of an application presented as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in teaching reinforcement demanding skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

As children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty in starting communication even with their basic needs, they may be in need of Alternative and Supportive Communication Systems (ASCS). Alternative communication systems are communication systems developed for children with developmentally speaking disabilities, inability to speak, limited or incomprehensible speech. In this study, the effectiveness of an application presented as AAC to children with ASD in teaching the skill of requesting reinforcement has been investigated. The study was conducted in a counseling center located in Beşiktaş/Istanbul with three boys aged 5-9 years diagnosed with ASD. The boys were lacking or solely had limited functional speaking skills and had not been educated with an alternative and supportive communication system before. The teaching process of requesting reinforcement skill was carried out with gradual assistance of the reinforcers determined for each participant by the researcher through using pictures and sound recordings representing these reinforcers. The research method is a multiple probe design which is among the single-subject research models. At the end of the research the reinforcement demand which is presented as ASCS has been found effective in teaching children with ASD. At the same time, it was observed that the participants were able to maintain the target skill 1, 2 and 4 weeks after the end of the teaching sessions, and that they could generalize these skills in the sessions held in a different environment and with different person. In this study, social validity data were obtained by gathering the opinions of the participants participating in the research and five special education teachers who worked with children of similar age and similar characteristics. These special education teachers gathered information about the process, effectiveness and outcome of the research. Keywords: Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Autism, Reinforcement, Demanding, Communication Skills, Replica Teaching, Progressive Help.