\"Autism appears in the first three years of a child's life, involving impairments in social and verbal and nonverbal communication. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with core deficits in social and communication, struggle to effectively accomplish social interactive goals through pragmatic language. Early intervention programs may strengthen expressive communication and increase functional communication by some children with autism. The current study examined if participation in an intensive early intervention program increases functional communication in social situations with children with autism. I hypothesized that participation in an early learning program would increase functional communication in social situations for children with autism. Results indicated that all three children decreased their ADOS-2 scores on module two posttest when compared to module one pretest, demonstrating a decrease in symptoms of autism. Results of functional communication demonstrated that participation in the early learning program did not increase functional communication, however participation did increase the types of functional communication used by all three children. At the end of the intervention each child was able to discriminate between different types of functional communication and utilize their new behaviors to communicate\"--Leaf iv.
","abstract_html":"<p>"Autism appears in the first three years of a child's life, involving impairments in social and verbal and nonverbal communication. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with core deficits in social and communication, struggle to effectively accomplish social interactive goals through pragmatic language. Early intervention programs may strengthen expressive communication and increase functional communication by some children with autism. The current study examined if participation in an intensive early intervention program increases functional communication in social situations with children with autism. I hypothesized that participation in an early learning program would increase functional communication in social situations for children with autism. Results indicated that all three children decreased their ADOS-2 scores on module two posttest when compared to module one pretest, demonstrating a decrease in symptoms of autism. Results of functional communication demonstrated that participation in the early learning program did not increase functional communication, however participation did increase the types of functional communication used by all three children. At the end of the intervention each child was able to discriminate between different types of functional communication and utilize their new behaviors to communicate"--Leaf iv.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tomevi, Charlotte L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:29Z","subjects":["Children with autism spectrum disorders--Language","Autism in children--Treatment","Autism spectrum disorders in children","Communicative disorders in children","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/314","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tomevi, Charlotte L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Children with autism spectrum disorders--Language","Autism in children--Treatment","Autism spectrum disorders in children","Communicative disorders in children","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access is available to all users"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/314"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["\"Autism appears in the first three years of a child's life, involving impairments in social and verbal and nonverbal communication. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with core deficits in social and communication, struggle to effectively accomplish social interactive goals through pragmatic language. Early intervention programs may strengthen expressive communication and increase functional communication by some children with autism. The current study examined if participation in an intensive early intervention program increases functional communication in social situations with children with autism. I hypothesized that participation in an early learning program would increase functional communication in social situations for children with autism. Results indicated that all three children decreased their ADOS-2 scores on module two posttest when compared to module one pretest, demonstrating a decrease in symptoms of autism. Results of functional communication demonstrated that participation in the early learning program did not increase functional communication, however participation did increase the types of functional communication used by all three children. At the end of the intervention each child was able to discriminate between different types of functional communication and utilize their new behaviors to communicate\"--Leaf iv.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Effects of early intervention on pragmatic language in children with autism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Tomevi, Charlotte L."],"dc:description.abstract":["\"Autism appears in the first three years of a child's life, involving impairments in social and verbal and nonverbal communication. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with core deficits in social and communication, struggle to effectively accomplish social interactive goals through pragmatic language. Early intervention programs may strengthen expressive communication and increase functional communication by some children with autism. The current study examined if participation in an intensive early intervention program increases functional communication in social situations with children with autism. I hypothesized that participation in an early learning program would increase functional communication in social situations for children with autism. Results indicated that all three children decreased their ADOS-2 scores on module two posttest when compared to module one pretest, demonstrating a decrease in symptoms of autism. Results of functional communication demonstrated that participation in the early learning program did not increase functional communication, however participation did increase the types of functional communication used by all three children. At the end of the intervention each child was able to discriminate between different types of functional communication and utilize their new behaviors to communicate\"--Leaf iv.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/314"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Children with autism spectrum disorders--Language","Autism in children--Treatment","Autism spectrum disorders in children","Communicative disorders in children","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Effects of early intervention on pragmatic language in children with autism"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:29Z"}