Implementation Research: Embracing Practitioners' Views.

Purpose: This research explores practitioners' perspectives during the implementation of triadic gaze intervention (TGI), an evidence-based protocol for assessing and planning treatment targeting gaze as an early signal of intentional communication for young children with physical disabilities.

Method: Using qualitative methods, 7 practitioners from 1 early intervention center reported their perceptions about (a) early intervention for young children with physical disabilities, (b) acceptability and feasibility in the use of the TGI protocol in routine practice, and (c) feasibility of the TGI training. Qualitative data were gathered from 2 semistructured group interviews, once before and once after TGI training and implementation.

Moving Triadic Gaze Intervention Into Practice: Measuring Clinician Attitude and Implementation Fidelity.

Purpose: This research investigated a first step in implementing the dynamic assessment (DA) component of Triadic Gaze Intervention (Olswang, Feuerstein, Pinder, & Dowden, 2013; Olswang et al., 2014), an evidence-based protocol for teaching early signals of communication to young children with physical disabilities. Clinician attitudes about adopting external evidence into practice and implementation fidelity in DA protocol delivery were examined following training.

Triadic gaze intervention for young children with physical disabilities.

Purpose: This randomized controlled study investigated whether a supplemental treatment designed to teach triadic gaze (TG) as a signal of coordinated joint attention would yield a significantly greater increase in TG in the experimental versus control group.

Method: Eighteen 10- to 24-month-old children with severe motor impairments were randomly assigned to an experimental ( n = 9) or control group ( n = 9). For approximately 29 sessions over 17 weeks, experimental participants received TG treatment twice weekly with a speech-language pathologist in addition to standard practice.

Validating dynamic assessment of triadic gaze for young children with severe disabilities.

Purpose: This research investigated the use of a dynamic assessment (DA) to identify differences among young children with severe disabilities, which would predict progress in learning behaviors indicating coordinated joint attention (CJA).

Method: Six children 10-24 months of age were enrolled in a 16-week treatment for behaviors indicating CJA, specifically triadic gaze (TG), which is a 3-point gaze shift between object and adult. An initial static assessment documented the children's eligibility for the study and their baseline performance of TG.

Development of the communication complexity scale.

Purpose: Accurate description of an individual's communication status is critical in both research and practice. Describing the communication status of individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities is difficult because these individuals often communicate with presymbolic means that may not be readily recognized. Our goal was to design a communication scale and summary score for interpretation that could be applied across populations of children and adults with limited (often presymbolic) communication forms.

Discovering indices of contingency awareness in adults with multiple profound disabilities.

We conducted two studies to examine parameters of social attention in contingency awareness training using switch activation with individuals who had multiple profound disabilities. In Study 1 we compared leisure devices and social attention as reinforcing stimuli with 5 individuals. Results indicated the reinforcing qualities of social attention over leisure devices with 2 individuals and documented the importance of session length in training.

Survey of SLP caseloads in Washington State schools: implications and strategies for action.

Purpose: To document statewide and regional caseloads and to examine workload management strategies by surveying speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Washington State public schools.

Method: All school SLPs who were registered with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction were mailed a detailed survey in May, 2001 and a brief follow-up survey 1 year later.

Results: Response rates were 43% (N=431) and 47% (N=464), respectively.