Teaching conversation to children with autism: Assessment of the efficacy of a parent-implemented script procedure

Children with autism demonstrate a deficit in communication and conversational skills, contributing to overall impairments in social interactions (Kanner, 1943). Although previous research has demonstrated that children with autism can learn aspects of conversational speech (e.g., Krantz & McClannahan, 1998), few studies have been conducted that teach this population to engage in an entire "to and fro" conversation. Additionally, only one study to date has taught parents of children with autism to use a script procedure to teach conversational speech to their child with autism (Reagon & Higbee, 2009).;A multiple baseline design across participants (parent/child dyads) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a collaborative parent training program in teaching parents to implement a script program to teach their children with autism to engage in a reciprocal conversation. The collaborative approach was used to enhance the contextual fit of the intervention, increase parent motivation during intervention, ensure clinical significance, and enhance generalization of skills.;Results were that all six children showed increases in conversational speech during scripted conversations, and five out of six children generalized the skill across conversational topic to an untrained topic. Parents demonstrated quick acquisition of the behavioral strategies. Several generalization assessments were conducted, with positive results. Results also showed decreased parent stress and depression after intervention, and decreased concern regarding their child's conversational speech. Results are discussed in terms of the value of a collaborative approach to parent education by utilizing parents as experts on their children. This study also demonstrates behavioral interventions that are effective in increasing conversational skills in children with autism.