Establishing pre-language signalling behaviour with profoundly mentally handicapped students: a preliminary...

The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the effectiveness of a specific pre-language communication programming technique on the development of pre-language communication signalling behaviour in a group of profoundly mentally handicapped students. Results indicate that the procedure produced desired effects. Problems related to defining pre-language communication behaviours and communicative stimuli for this population, as well as issues pertaining to generalization, were discussed. Concluding comments stress the preliminary nature of the results and the need for future research in the validation of pre-language communication programming techniques.