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Treatment Intensity Variables: Individualizing Social Communication Interventions for Persons Experiencing Complex

Jolene Hyppa-Martin¹, Joe Reichle², Shanna Bodenhamer³

¹Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Minnesota Duluth.

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

|September 5, 2025

Abstract

Purpose:

This clinical focus article describes the role that treatment intensity plays in social communication interventions utilizing augmentative and alternative communication for learners who have complex communication needs associated with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder.

Method:

We delineate the parameters that comprise a frequently used treatment intensity taxonomy and provide an overview of the extant literature pertaining to treatment intensity as it applies to social communication interventions that include augmentative and alternative communication. Next, we describe several additional variables that complement treatment intensity frameworks and summarize the need for more rigorous methodological descriptions of intervention procedures in social communication intervention studies.

Conclusions:

Applications of treatment intensity frameworks represent an important component of designing and implementing replicable communication intervention protocols for individuals with complex communication needs. Complete, clear reporting of treatment intensity parameters and relevant treatment variables in the extant evidence is necessary for the benefits of a treatment intensity framework to be optimally realized for evidence-based social communication interventions for individuals with complex needs.

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