Andrea McDuffie, PhD, CCC-SLP, assistant professor of special education at Indiana University-Bloomington, will conduct a research study based upon More Than Words -- the Hanen program for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An orientation meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening, February 7, 2008 from 6:30-8:00 pm in room 3284 at the School of Education. At this meeting, parents will have the opportunity to view an introductory video, ask questions, and learn more about More Than Words and this research study. Ample parking is available behind the School of Education building.
More Than Words is a family-centered, naturalistic language program designed to provide parents of children with autism, under the age of 5, with a set of practical tools they can use to support their child’s language development. The More Than Words program is implemented by a speech pathologist who holds the certificate of clinical competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and who has completed additional training from the Hanen Center in Toronto, Canada. More Than Words is not designed to replace other interventions for children with ASD but provides a potential resource for parents who want to learn strategies to facilitate communication and language skills during everyday routines and activities.
More Than Words is organized around four major goals: improved two-way interaction, more mature and conventional ways of communicating, better communication for social purposes, and improved language understanding. The More Than Words program lasts approximately 14 weeks and includes a pre-program consultation, 8 parent group meetings and 3 videotaped individual parent-child coaching sessions. The More Than Words research study will also include a post-program assessment.
•
Additional information about More Than Words can be obtained by contacting Dr. McDuffie (
mcduffie@indiana.edu) or by visiting the Hanen Center website at
www.hanen.org.
Author