TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the communication access and participation of a young adult with autism spectrum disorder with limited speech and inpatient nursing staff
AU - Gormley, Jessica
AU - Brittlebank, Savanna
AU - Light, Janice
N1 - Dr. Gormley receives salary from University of Nebraska Medical Center and previously received stipends from Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Light receives salary from Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Brittlebank receives salary from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and previously received stipends from Pennsylvania State University. This study was supported by funds awarded to Pennsylvania State University to the third author. The funds were from grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant numbers 90RE5017 and 90REGE0014) to the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (RERC on AAC). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this manuscript do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
PY - 2024/11/3
Y1 - 2024/11/3
N2 - This study aimed to describe the nature of interactions between health care professionals and a young adult with autism spectrum disorder with limited speech during an inpatient stay. An observational study was conducted to describe the interactions between a young adult on the autism spectrum and 14 of his inpatient health care providers. Naturalistic video-recordings were taken, and behavioral coding was completed to measure the frequency and type of communication turns taken. The providers took 93% of conversational turns. Most provider turns (76%) were non-obligatory in nature and did not invite the young adult to engage in turn-taking. The young adult only had access to his communication system during one of the 27 interactions (4%); however, when he had access to his system, he demonstrated higher levels of turn-taking. Health care providers should offer patients with limited speech more communicative turns, provide adequate wait time, and ensure communication systems are available during all inpatient interactions.
AB - This study aimed to describe the nature of interactions between health care professionals and a young adult with autism spectrum disorder with limited speech during an inpatient stay. An observational study was conducted to describe the interactions between a young adult on the autism spectrum and 14 of his inpatient health care providers. Naturalistic video-recordings were taken, and behavioral coding was completed to measure the frequency and type of communication turns taken. The providers took 93% of conversational turns. Most provider turns (76%) were non-obligatory in nature and did not invite the young adult to engage in turn-taking. The young adult only had access to his communication system during one of the 27 interactions (4%); however, when he had access to his system, he demonstrated higher levels of turn-taking. Health care providers should offer patients with limited speech more communicative turns, provide adequate wait time, and ensure communication systems are available during all inpatient interactions.
KW - Augmentative and alternative communication systems
KW - autism
KW - communication
KW - inpatient
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85209078875&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85209078875&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17483107.2024.2420179
DO - 10.1080/17483107.2024.2420179
M3 - Article
C2 - 39488823
SN - 1748-3115
JO - Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology
JF - Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology
ER -