Supporting Communicative Autonomy Through Academics: The Effects of Text-based Listening Comprehension Strategy Instruction on Communicative Turn-taking

The present study used a multiple probe across participants design with an

embedded generalization measure to examine the effect of text-based listening

comprehension strategy instruction through the implementation of two concurrent

dependent variables: listening comprehension responses to wh- questions and

communicative turn-taking during a discussion of those texts. Participants were four high

school students with moderate to severe disabilities and communication needs supported

by augmentative and alternative communication. Additional analyses included the

generalization of these effects to a special education classroom group discussion, the

target student’s view of the intervention, and the classroom staff’s view of the changes

observed between baseline and intervention communicative turn-taking by target

participants with disabilities. The results yielded a functional relation for the intervention

and both dependent variables, which indicated a causal connection between listening

comprehension and communicative turn-taking in this case.