Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun;13(6):534.
doi: 10.3390/educsci13060534. Epub 2023 May 23.

Keeping Teachers Engaged during Non-Instructional Times: An Analysis of the Effects of a Naturalistic Intervention

Katherine Bateman  1 , Sarah Emily Wilson  2 , Katherine Matthews  3 , Ariane Gauvreau  1 , Maggie Gucwa  4 , William J Therrien  3 , Rose Nevill  3 , Micah Mazurek  3
Affiliations

Keeping Teachers Engaged during Non-Instructional Times: An Analysis of the Effects of a Naturalistic Intervention

Katherine Bateman et al. Educ Sci (Basel). 2023 Jun.

Abstract

As the prevalence of autism continues to rise, early childhood programs continue to evolve to meet the needs of children across a spectrum of abilities. To do this, strategies and supports are needed for teachers to engage with children who experience difficulties across developmental domains. Snack Talk, a naturalistic visual communication intervention, focuses on increases in conversation engagement for children with autism and related disabilities during mealtimes. This study examined the effects of the implementation of Snack Talk on increasing teacher engagement in conversation with five preschool children with autism during mealtimes in an EIBI classroom setting. A reversal design was used to analyze the relationship between Snack Talk and teacher conversational engagement with children. Results of this study demonstrated that implementation of Snack Talk increased instances of teacher engagement in conversation with children compared to baseline phases, demonstrating the promise of this intervention supporting students' different levels of support needs in inclusive, blended settings. A functional relationship has been established between baseline and intervention phases and generalization. Limitations and directions for further research are discussed.

Keywords: naturalistic intervention; social skills; teaching training; universal design for learning.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Percent of intervals teachers engaged in conversation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Maenner MJ; Shaw KA; Baio J; Washington A; Patrick M; DiRienzo M; Christensen DL; Wiggins LD; Pettygrove S; Andrews JG; et al. Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder among Children Aged 8 Years—Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2016. MMWR Surveill Summ 2020, 69, 1–12. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guralnick MJ; Bruder MB Early childhood inclusion in the United States. Infants Young Child 2016, 29, 166–177.
    1. Odom SL; Vitztum J; Wolery R; Lieber J; Sandall S; Hanson MJ; Horn E Preschool inclusion in the United States: A review of research from an ecological systems perspective. J. Res. Spec. Educ. Needs 2004, 4, 17–49.
    1. Schwartz IS; Billingsley FF; McBride BM Including children with autism in inclusive preschools: Strategies that work. Young Except. Child 1998, 1, 19–26.
    1. Schwartz IS; Ashmun J; McBride B; Scott C; Sandall SR The DATA Model for Teaching Preschoolers with Autism; Paul H, Ed.; Brookes Publishing Company: Baltimore, MD, USA, 2017.

LinkOut - more resources