Self‐paced segmentation of written words on a touchscreen tablet promotes the oral production of nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism

We investigated in a pilot study the effects of various types of visual mediation (photos, written words and self‐paced syllabic segmentation of written words displayed on a touchscreen tablet) that are thought to facilitate the oral production of nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism, according to the participants’ level of oral language development and, more specifically, their ability to produce delayed echolalia. We also sought to identify the cognitive characteristics that need to be taken into account when seeking to develop the oral production of nonverbal children with autism. Results showed that the nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism were able of using written words to produce them orally. Their performance was largely dependent on their level of language development. Tasks combining written and oral modalities prompted some of them to engage in oral production for the first time (isolated syllables for nonverbal children) and allowed others to produce non‐random strings of syllables (minimally verbal children).     

Impact of Mainstreaming and Disability Visibility on Social Representations of Disability and Otherness Held by Junior High School Pupils

The present study sought to gauge the impact of integrating pupils with disabilities in ordinary schools on the social representations of disability and otherness held by their classmates. In particular, we studied the effects of the disability’s visibility—a visible disability (i.e., cerebral palsy) versus a non-visible disability (i.e., severe learning difficulties)—and of “integration experience” (belonging to a class that may or may not include a pupil with a disability). Results showed that pupils shared the same representation of disability, made up mainly of pathological features. Disability also lay at the core of their representation of otherness, which was both rich and diversified. The peripheral components of these representations varied according to the participants’ experiences in the classroom and the visibility of the disability.