The vast majority of individuals with Rett syndrome do not utilize natural speech and therefore require alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the use of high- and low-tech AAC modalities by three individuals with Rett syndrome given similar instruction for using both modalities. For…

From early in childhood, humans exhibit sophisticated intuitions about how to share knowledge efficiently in simple controlled studies. Yet, untrained adults often fail to teach effectively in real-world situations. Here, we explored what causes adults to struggle in informal pedagogical exchanges. In Experiment 1, we first showed evidence of this…

Purpose: Elementary-aged peers often need support for them to have positive interactions with classmates with autism who are minimally speaking (i.e., fewer than 30 functional spoken words). This study examined whether peers could learn to use responsive interaction strategies to support inclusive play and communication within a peer network…

This small-scale research project explored the perceived impact which selective mutism (SM) training, delivered by an educational psychologist (EP), had on school practitioners' understanding of the condition and their subsequent professional practice. Three teachers were interviewed and a thematic analysis elicited four superordinate themes.…

This study employed art-based research with phenomenological qualitative inquiry to understand the perspectives of professionals who are working in the Israeli school system with children diagnosed with selective mutism. Selective mutism (SM) is a disorder originated in anxiety in which a child, between the ages of 3-5, does not speak at school…

In the twenty-first-century working professionals need to possess strong Interactional Competence to handle professional communication in intercultural contexts (PCIC). However, the relationship among the three PCIC constituents -- culture, workplace and interaction -- is undertheorized in current research. This leaves PCIC practitioners…

Fieldwork interviews can be utilised in intercultural communication classrooms to compare theories with real-world experiences, promoting discovery and facilitating deeper learning. However, the insights drawn from such interviews are often reduced to direct quotes from interviewees, with little reflection on why they express their views in…

Language barriers negatively affect access to social services, particularly for D/deaf populations who use Sign Language. "D/deaf" is used to encompass both the cultural conception of capital-D Deafness and the medical conception of lowercase-d deafness. Language translation/interpretation is a common need among practitioners of social,…

We live in the age of globalization where diverse cultures and nations mix and mingle. A lot of us live in a multicultural society in which macro- and microethnoses coexist. Cultures enrich each other, collaborate…and sometimes clash. Misunderstandings happen when people speak the same language, but do not share the same cultural codes. Edward…

Given the growing trend of delivering classes through online and virtual environments, it is vital to gain a nuanced understanding of students' online research learning experiences, the factors that contributed to their choice of learning modality, the challenges they encountered, and the effective online research teaching practices and strategies…

We should seek every possible method for educating immigrants and refugees and facilitating ­communication for them--especially during the current difficult times due to the spread of a killer-­ pandemic (i.e., Covid-19). To this end, I discuss the role which "metalanguage" could play in this regard, with reference to Natural Semantic…

Individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) are disproportionately affected by disparities in the United States (U.S.) healthcare system due to medical miscommunications, misdiagnoses, and treatment errors. The purpose of this commentary is to provide an overarching social-ecological perspective on how to enhance patient-centered…

We used a multiple-probe single-case research design to examine the effect of a professional development package that included real-time, technology-enhanced, and performance-based feedback and video analysis on three preschool teachers' use of naturalistic instruction targeting children's communication and child responses. We also measured the…

Communication strategies (CS) have been generally used to overcome oral communication problems in delivering the intended messages. While studies on CS mostly involved simulated communication contexts, the current study deviates from the past studies on CS by identifying the types of CS employed by candidates of real job interviews and examining…

Vocabulary learning that overlooks the discrimination of single sounds in English language learning could lead to communication difficulties, such as the inability to hear and speak English pronunciation. To address this issue, vocalization strategy, in which students listen to the sounds of words and memorize them aloud, is considered a useful…