Communication & Language Interventions

Evidence-Based Practices

An evidence-based practice is an “instructional or intervention procedure for which

researchers have provided an acceptable level of research that shows the practice produces

positive outcomes for children, youth, and/or adults with autism spectrum disorder” (The

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2021). The benefits of

using evidence-based practices are that they increase the likelihood of positive outcomes,

increase responsiveness to an individual’s needs, and increase accountability among

stakeholders. Additionally, EBPs decrease the amount of time and resources wasted by

eliminating the investigation into which programs work through trial and error (The IRIS Center,

2014). Evidence-based practices can be used for helping address behavioral challenges,

communication needs, improve social skills and/or address sensory needs. Three evidence-based

practices that have been proven to be effective in the area of communication and language are

social narratives, visual supports and naturalistic teaching.

Social Narratives

Social narratives describe social situations by providing an individualized, short story

told from the perspective of the individual. The story will provide an individual with information

about how other people think and feel, when they engage in certain behaviors. Likewise, social

narratives encourage individuals to communicate their needs and wants by using their words,

instead of engaging in problematic behaviors that inappropriately serve the function of

communication. Likewise, they can show individuals the steps of how to complete a task, such as

starting a conversation with a peer, asking questions or how to join a group. Social narratives

have a variety of benefits, including increased social interactions, decreased problematic

behaviors, increased on-task behaviors and understanding expectations (Sam, A., & AFIRM

Team., 2015).

Visual Supports

Visual supports give individuals a concrete cue, which can be paired with or in place of a

verbal cue. Visual supports can be used to give individuals information about expected routines,

behaviors or skills. Visual supports may include pictures, written words, objects, arrangement of

the environment, visual boundaries, schedules, maps, labels, organization systems, timelines, or

scripts (Sam, A., & AFIRM Team., 2015) .

Naturalistic Teaching

Naturalistic teaching is an EBP where education professionals facilitate social

interactions between individuals on the spectrum and their peers in a natural setting. This

intervention can occur during routine activities in their classroom and/or playground.​Children's

peer interactions are facilitated during both structured activities and free play periods. When

naturalistic teaching is used, it modifies the learning environment, to support an individual's

interactions with his or her peers. This teaches individuals social behaviors under diverse

learning conditions, with a wide variety of social responses, leading to more peer interactions.

This strategy also provides opportunity for discussion of individual differences in social ability

and the importance of friendship. Naturalistic teaching is effective because it applies across a

variety of contexts, and creates a higher likelihood that the individual will generalize the skill,

since he or she is learning and practicing in his or her natural environment.

Implementation of EBPs in a real world context

I have a 4th grade student on the autism spectrum who is extremely mild mannered and

soft spoken. So much so, that his demeanor has affected his ability to form friendships. In
addition, he just doesn’t know the right things to say to start a conversation or how to join a

group game. The three evidence-based practices that I mentioned above, are effective

interventions to utilize with this student. I use 2 types of visual support with this student. The

first type of visual support is a stack of cards that are hole-punched on a binder ring with

prepared questions. The questions include things like “Who is your Marvel favorite superhero?”

“What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” etc. The student flips through the cards before going

out to recess and chooses a question to ask a classmate, thus assisting him in striking up a

conversation. The second type of visual support this student uses is a self-monitoring checklist of

things he can do to make friends. The checklist says things like “Did I ask someone to play?” “

Did I say hello to a classmate that was walking by? etc. Although this student is motivated to

improve his communication skills, his general education teacher prompts him to pick a question

to ask before recess, and reminds him to consult his checklist to see if he did any of the items. He

has a goal to do two items on his checklist daily.

The second EBP I use with this student is social narratives. He has a social narrative that

explains the steps of maintaining a conversation with a peer. This student is very high

functioning, so his teacher does not have him read it every single day. However, after he checks

in with the student to see if he followed through with asking a friend a question, or whether or

not he completed any items on his checklist, he will have him read it the next time he goes out, if

the student told him that he was not able to make any connections with peers during the previous

recess.

The last EBP that I use with this student is naturalistic teaching. This student has one to

one paraprofessional support during unstructured time. The paraprofessional will prompt the

student if she sees that he is not putting forth effort to start a conversation with a peer or is not
making an effort to participate in play. If he does engage in conversation, but the conversation

begins to lag because he doesn’t know what to say next, the paraprofessional will give the

student suggestions on what he can say to keep the conversation going. The student is making

great progress and I’m hoping the IEP team will agree to eliminate paraprofessional support

during the next school year.

 References

Amsbary, J., & AFIRM Team. (2017). Naturalistic intervention. Chapel Hill, NC: National
Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child
Development Center, University of North Carolina. Retrieved from
http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/Naturalistic-intervention

Sam, A., & AFIRM Team. (2015). Social narratives. Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional
Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child Development Center,
University of North Carolina. Retrieved from http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/social-narratives

Sam, A., & AFIRM Team. (2015). Visual support. Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional
Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child Development Center,
University of North Carolina. Retrieved from http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/visual-supports

The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2021). What are
Evidence-based Practices? Retrieved from
https://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/evidence-based-practices

The IRIS Center. (2014). Evidence-based practices (part 1): Identifying and selecting a practice
or program. Retrieved from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ebp_01/