Pragmatic Language Therapy for Adolescents & Adults

1. Pragmatic Language Therapy for Adolescents & Adults Margaret Miller

2. Rationale • Lack of tx material for this age group • Difficult to measure pragmatic language quantitatively • Quantitative data necessary to show progress and objectify data • Beginning clinicians especially have difficulty measuring these skills quantitatively

3. Literature Review • Gained better knowledge of tx materials and programs available for older adolescents and adults • Identified 10 pragmatic language skill areas to research • Gained better knowledge of relevant strategies for data collection • Quantitative data collection vs. Qualitative data collection

4. Identified Skill Areas • Eye contact • Topic Maintenance • Turn-Taking • Recognizing/Expressing Emotions • Humor • Initiating & Terminating Conversations • Follow-Up Questions • Body Language • Perspective Taking • Reducing Negative/Distracting Behaviors

5. Education • Developed treatment packets for clinicians describing procedures for targeting pragmatic language skills and data collection • Provided protocols for quantitative data collection of pragmatic language skills • Provided pragmatic language activities and worksheets to address 10 social skill areas • Presented packets to graduate level CSD students • Participated in poster presentation at the Autism Conference sponsored by the Thompson Center

6. Examples: • Pragmatic Language Activities & Data Collection Booklet • Measurable Goals • Quantitative Data Collection

7. Measurable Goals • Eye Contact • The client will receive an average score of ‘5’, indicating appropriate eye contact, when talking with familiar conversation partners as judged by 3 unfamiliar listeners using the eye contact scale. • Initiating & Terminating Conversations • The client will respond appropriately to conversation initiations from familiar and unfamiliar conversation partners in 80% of opportunities.

8. Quantitative Data Collection