Communicative Behavior in the Natural Environment: Case Studies of Two Young Children With Autism and Limited Expressive Language

Many individuals with developmental disabilities show delays in the development of sophisticated communication skills. Listeners often misunderstand their unconventional means of communication, and breakdowns occur. A communication repair is a second attempt to communicate a message when a breakdown is encountered. Qualitative methods were employed to assess and describe the communication repairs used by two young children with autism spectrum disorders who had limited expressive language. During natural observations, only one of the two participating children was observed to repair his initial requests. The results suggest that in contrast to the emphasis in the literature that development is the primary determinant of repair behavior, variables in the children's social and physical environment influenced their communication repair behavior. Implications for practice and research are described.