Recognizing non-verbal behaviors as forms of communication in students with significant disabilities

This study investigated the effects of training instructional assistants working with\ud students who are non-verbal in recognizing behaviors being exhibited as forms of\ud communication. The parents of three students with significant disabilities were\ud interviewed to identify specific non-verbal behaviors that each child was\ud communicating. After the behaviors were identified, an intervention training was\ud conducted with the instructional assistants working with the students to help them\ud better understand how to "appropriately??? respond to the non-verbal behaviors. In\ud the intervention phase of this single - case baseline design, the students and\ud instructional assistants were observed during their daily school routine. The results\ud of this intervention indicated an increase in "appropriate??? responses demonstrated\ud by the instructional assistants. "Appropriate" responses were calculated by\ud following the guidelines established in collaboration with the parents