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Hand signalling in dyadic proximal communication: social strengths of children with autism who do not speak

University of Durham

Joanna Reynolds

University of Northumbria at Newcastle

A hand-signalling procedure was taught to four boys with severe autism and learning disabilities, within dyadic proximal communication with an adult who was a stranger to them. Proximal communication involved rough and tumble play and imitation of the child, with frequent pause/burst phases to encourage him to initiate communication. It builds on the social strengths of the children and is discussed in relation to the prevailing deficit model of autism. High frequencies of hand signalling were shown by each child and sustained over time. A behavioural explanation was rejected in favour of a developmental one involving Piaget’s concept of operational causality.

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