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

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.