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. 2023 Feb 6;16(4):1085-1099.
doi: 10.1007/s40617-023-00775-3. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Snack Talk: Effects of a Naturalistic Visual Communication Support on Increasing Conversation Engagement for Adults with Disabilities

Katherine J Bateman  1 , Sarah Emily Wilson  2 , Einar Ingvarsson  3 , Jessica Doucette  3 , William Therrien  4 , Rose Nevill  4 , Micah Mazurek  4
Affiliations

Snack Talk: Effects of a Naturalistic Visual Communication Support on Increasing Conversation Engagement for Adults with Disabilities

Katherine J Bateman et al. Behav Anal Pract. .

Abstract

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities frequently experience poor life outcomes, with individuals reporting lower levels of social support, relationships, gainful employment, and satisfaction in their quality of life. To ameliorate these outcomes, social skills and social communication interventions aligned with the needs of adults are warranted. This study examined the efficacy of Snack Talk, a supplemental naturalistic visual communication support, with five adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Snack Talk was implemented during the midday mealtime, with the goal of increasing conversation engagement. A withdrawal design across participants was used. Results demonstrated increases in conversation engagement and showed meaningful gains for participants in the intervention and postintervention phase compared to baseline.

Keywords: Communication; Intellectual and developmental disabilities; Mealtimes; Social skills.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Visual communication support example. Note. Example of visual communication support used during mealtimes. Copyright 2020 by Author under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC). Publicly available at (Open Science Framework blinded for review)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Participant social validity rating scale
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percent of intervals Brandon engaged in conversation
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Percent of intervals Alexander engaged in conversation
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Percent of intervals Mason engaged in conversation
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Percent of intervals Felicity engaged in conversation
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Percent of intervals Tim engaged in conversation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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