This study examined the effects of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT) as a reinforcer for verbal operant production in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Three children who attended a dolphin therapy program participated in this single subject research study. Baseline data was collected for each child via a video tape provided by parents and…

Impaired performance of skilled gestures, referred to as dyspraxia, is consistently reported in children with autism; however, its neurological basis is not well understood. Basic motor skill deficits are also observed in children with autism and it is unclear whether dyspraxia observed in children with autism can be accounted for by problems with…

This article examines the communication of text-based synchronous online discussion (chat) participants during the process of information sharing. It addresses the communicational constraints imposed by the computer-mediated communication (CMC) channel on participants' expression of interpersonal and affective stances, analyzes the mechanisms…

Many children with severe or multiple disabilities, including those with visual impairment, are limited in their ability to communicate. "Communication" is defined as how a person exchanges information about his or her desires, needs, knowledge, and perceptions with another person. Communication can be verbal, written, or nonverbal, such…

This study examined (1) whether or not college students in actual classrooms used resistance strategies similar to those found in earlier hypothetical-anchored research; (2) the influence of teacher immediacy on student's differential use of those resistance strategies; and (3) the relationship among students' willingness to comply, teachers'…

Quality of life and self-determination are important values in the field of intellectual disabilities however they may be difficult to facilitate with persons who have limited communication skills. In fact, many studies provide evidence that these persons have less opportunity to make choices and express their preferences. To help practitioners…

Applying theories of cultural dimensions, teacher credibility, and nonverbal immediacy, this chapter explores classroom management techniques used by Asian female teachers to establish credibility. (Contains 1 note.)

A study investigated the extent to which American university student interviewers perceived differences in certain nonverbal cues (conversational space and hand gestures) in interviews with persons from another culture and whether the American students perceived such observations affected their ability to listen to the interviewee. Subjects were…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year project which analyzed the speech and related behaviors of 28 young children (mean age 52.5 months) who stuttered, their mothers, and similar non-stuttering children and mothers. A loosely structured conversation between each mother and child was recorded and analyzed. In…

A study identified the verbal and nonverbal behaviors that people associate with flirting as opposed to sexual harassment, determined whether people could successfully distinguish between flirting and sexual harassment, and examined the relationship between variables that might affect the first two objectives. Subjects, 57 females and 32 males…

The perceptual bases of visual literacy are explored, drawing on research into the interpretation of pictures by viewers not familiar with pictorial representation. Research has indicated that inexperienced viewers do not find it difficult to recognize pictures that may be discrepant in color or shape from a familiar object, but may be troubled by…

This paper presents a strategy for teaching non-verbal communication skills to students in high school or college. The strategy uses the movie "Date with an Angel" to teach the non-verbal skills. According to the paper, the activity can be used at the beginning of a unit or course to get the students interested in important…

Presumably, during persuasion, a violation of a subject's expected distance would act as a distraction, increase the likelihood of message acceptance, create fewer counterarguments, and shift the listener's focus from message content to speaker characteristics. Forty-nine undergraduate speech students participated in a study at a major…

This book contains a collection of materials that can be used to improve the ability to relate to others. The first chapter discusses causes of conflict and how conflict habits develop. The second chapter discusses freeing ourselves from self-defeating habits. This chapter asserts that the imperfect expressive capacity of language is further…

A study (one of a series) sought to identify interpersonal events related to implicit communication. Implicit communication is defined as nonverbal behavior which serves to transmit "subintended" information. The study explored whether interpersonal roles which account for part of the process of nonverbal communication (and which were…