Response Time of Young Children With Complex Communication Needs Following a Communication Opportunity

Abstract

Children with complex communication needs (CCN) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often need more time to process and respond when communicating with others. This study employed a survival analysis approach exploring child response-time patterns following different communication opportunities for young children with CCN who use AAC. The results showed a median of 1.87 s response time with significant individual variability. Children took less time to communicate following a choice or a question than following a comment. AAC modeling was also associated with shorter response times. Additionally, the more opportunities that occurred without a child response, the longer child response time tended to be. Our findings suggest that if the child does not make a response attempt, instead of repeating communication opportunities, communication partners should consistently wait and use questions and choices along with modeling to increase child communication.