Developing an initial communicative repertoire: applications and issues for persons with severe disabilities

Researchers and practitioners are increasingly aware of the extent of communicative relationships very early in development. Advances in understanding how communication develops and how it can be taught have made earlier communication intervention a viable undertaking for infants and toddlers who experience developmental disabilities. Advances in our ability to establish functional communication skills in the absence of verbal communicative behavior have created new options for intervention for children who have insufficient structure or function of their speech mechanisms to permit spoken communication. Enhancing children's communication: research foundations for intervention. Eds. Ann P. Kaiser & David B. Gray (c) 1993, Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, Chapter 6, p.105-136 by Joe Reichle, James Halle, and Susan Johnston. Posted by permission.