| Many times individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities struggle with developing effective and efficient expressive communication skills. In the current study, the expressive communication skills of six individuals with moderate to significant disabilities are observed to determine whether having a formal multi-modal communication plan will help to increase the expressive communication attempts within a school setting. A transdisplinary team planning model is used to evaluate the effectiveness of increasing communication skills through the use of a multi-modal communication intervention plan. The Social Networks Inventory is used in the planning process and a multi-modal communication plan is developed for each individual based off observed baseline communication levels. The results showed that when each of the participants was provided with communication training and aides they each were able to increase their communication skills across multiple school environments. These findings suggest that the use of multi-modal communication plans is an effective means of increasing expressive communication among individuals with moderate-significant disabilities. |
