"Yes, we have communication difficulties, and some of those are linked with our impairments. But by far the greater part of our difficulty is caused by 'speaking' people not having the experience, time or commitment to try to understand us or to include us in everyday life."
Scope. The Good Practice Guide, for Support Workers and Personal Assistants Working with Disabled People with Communication Impairments. Scope; 2002. |
Functional Communication Training
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What Is It?
Functional Communication Training (FCT) is a skill-building strategy that enables individuals to appropriately communicate their desires. Functional communication training addresses communication and behavioural needs of children with disabilities. FCT effectively reduces challenging behaviour and increases communication.
There are three steps to FCT: 1. Completing a functional behaviour assessment 2. Identifying a communication response 3. Developing a treatment plan |
The Purpose & Benefits
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How to Use It
Please note that Functional Communication Training is a long and rigorous intervention that requires an extensive amount of time to implement. Provided here is a very brief description of the implementation. |
References
Feeley KM, Jones EA. (2006), Addressing challenging behaviour in children with Down syndrome: The use of applied behaviour analysis for assessment and intervention. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 11(2);64-77. doi:10.3104/perspectives.316
Mancil GR, Boman M. (2010), Functional Communication Training in the Classroom: A Guide for Success. Preventing School Failure. 54(4), 238-246. doi: 10.1080/10459881003745195
Roberts, J. E., Price, J. and Malkin, C. (2007), Language and communication development in down syndrome. Ment.Retard. Dev. Disabil. Res. Rev., 13: 26–35. doi: 10.1002/mrdd.20136
Images: Autism Speaks. Retrieved July 10, 2015. From https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/pecs.jpg