Using Qualitative Methods to Assess the Social-Communicative Competence of Young Handicapped Children

Abstract

A qualitative research methodology was employed to examine the social-communicative interactions of young handicapped children in a public school-based preschool program and discem the utility of participant observation as an assessment strategy. Six students (with mild to severe handicaps) were observed during free play and semistructured (lunch, playground) times for an average of 6 hours each. Data analysis focussed on the initiation behaviors employed by these students, the context in which the initiations occurred, and the consequences of each child's initiations with others. Three major themes emerged: Each child displayed a consistent set of initiations, each child used augmentative strategies to continue interactions, and initiation behaviors signified intent and purpose. Objective codings of field-note data supported and augmented the observational data. While all students employed complex, intentional social-communicative strategies, the idiosyncratic nature of these overtures and their underlying intent would have been missed using typical assessment practices. The pedagogical implications of these themes were discussed, as was the use of participant observation as a valuable tool in assessment.