Theses and Dissertations

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The use of developmental speech and language training through music to enhance quick incidental learning in children with autism spectrum disorders
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Cooley, Jennifer, author; LaGasse, Blythe, advisor; Davis, William B., committee member; Cooley, Dan S., committee member
Given vocabulary acquisition in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an important concern, it is necessary to investigate potential treatments that enhance children's ability to learn novel words in the Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL) context. The present study examined the effects of Developmental Speech and Language Training through Music (DSLM) to facilitate QUIL and attention in 8 children, ages 3-5, with a diagnosis of ASD. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions and were exposed to speech and song scripts via a two period crossover design. An experimental session presented one song and spoken script, each embedded with 4 novel lexical items, through video stimuli. Attention was examined by recording eye gaze toward a computer monitor, and lexical probing was administered after each experimental session to measure production, comprehension, and generalization of target lexical items. The results showed that attention, production, comprehension, and generalization improved as a result of both the speech and music conditions; however, the difference between music and speech was not statistically significant.