Shared Reading Bibliography

Crowe, L. K., Norris, J. A., & Hoffman, P. R. (2004). Training caregivers to facilitate communicative participation of preschool children with language impairment during storybook reading. Journal of Communication Disorders, 37, 177–196.

• This article talks about 6 preschoolers with language impairment during shared book reading with caregivers. Student participation and vocabulary were compared before and after their caregivers were trained to respond to the communication attempts of their children.  Caregivers were instructed to cycle through stages of interaction that included communication initiations, questions, responses and feedback.  Caregivers were asked to pause before each of these stages to provide the student an opportunity to participate and provide an example of the next stage in the cycle.
• This study found that children took more communication turns, used more words, and used a greater number of words during shared book reading after the training. Five of the children increased initiating communication, but it was not significantly different statistically.
• This is important because increasing adult’s use of pauses and being responsive to student behaviors and communication supports more balance in initiating and responding during shared book reading.

Koppenhaver, D. A, Erickson, K. A, & Skotko, B. G. (2001). Supporting communication of girls with Rett Syndrome and their mothers in storybook reading. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 48, 395–410. 

• This article talks about the language and communication of 4 girls with Rett Syndrome aged 3 to 7 years during shared storybook reading that occurred 2 times per week over 4 months. Each participant experienced three interventions in stages:  1) resting hand splints, 2) light tech AAC systems, 3) and parent training. Parents were trained to attribute meaning to behaviors, use natural questions and comments to prompt communication, provide wait time and a hierarchy of support, and focus on questions or comments that maximize use of available communication symbols.
• This study found that access to AAC devices and parent training resulted in the students doing more labeling and using symbols to communicate. For 3 of the 4 students, parent training resulted in students more often appropriately using the switch during a communication turn.
• This is important because it shows the importance of students having access to a communication system. It also suggests that small changes in adult partner behaviors (e.g., attributing meaning, pausing, natural questions/comments) during shared reading can support students who use AAC in transitioning from passive to active participant roles.

Sennott, S. C., & Mason, L. H. (2016). AAC modeling with the iPad during shared storybook reading pilot study. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 37, 242–254. 

• This article talks about a shared reading intervention that included an educational assistant and a preschool student with autism who uses AAC. The MODELER approach encouraged the assistant to 1) model AAC use while speaking, 2) encourage participation through pausing, and 3) responding to student communication by repeating the student’s utterance with an addition of one or more symbols.
• This study found that after the educational assistant training, the student took more conversational turns with speech or AAC and fewer conversational turns with gestures. 
• This is important because it shows the importance of involving individuals who interact with students most frequently.  When students are provided examples of what they could say instead of what they have to say, their communication and language grows.

Skotko, B. G., Koppenhaver, D. A., & Erickson, K. A. (2004). Parent Reading Behaviors and Communication Outcomes in Girls with Rett Syndrome. Exceptional Children, 70, 145–166.

• This article talks about the shared storybook interactions of 4 preschool girls with Rett Syndrome and their mothers. Each participant experienced three interventions in stages:  1) resting hand splints, 2) light tech AAC systems, 3) and parent training to attribute meaning to behaviors, use natural questions and comments to prompt communication, provide wait time and a hierarchy of support, and focus on questions or comments that maximize use of available communication symbols.
• This study found that students experienced more successful communication attempts through an increase in both successful and unsuccessful attempts. Different maternal reading strategies were related to successful child communication or attention for each mother-daughter pair, including:  confirmations, request for clarifications, directing student behaviors/communication, or questions that ask students to predict or infer.
• This is important because there are a variety of strategies known to promote engagement and communication, but certain strategies may be more successful with certain students.