Language Input strategies refer to ways the adult’s responses can enhance the student’s communicative skills and language development. The goal of these responsive interaction interventions is to teach partners to provide rich language stimulation contingent to the child’s communicative productions (McCormick, 2003). Contingent responses are those that immediately follow a child’s behavior and relate directly to the child’s communicative behavior. Highly responsive adult input to children demonstrating pre-intentional communication behaviors can support a child as they learn to use intentional communication behaviors (Harwood, Warren and Yoder, 2002). It is important to note that the goal of responsive teaching is not to elicit or prompt specific behaviors from the student, but rather for the adult partner to provide rich language input. Research shows that it can be particularly effective to teach these responsive strategies to parents and caregivers (e.g., Warren, Yoder, and Leew, 2002; Yoder & Warren, 1998, 2001). Language input techniques include imitations, recasts, extensions, labels, confirmations, and augmented communicative input.

Imitations

Imitations are simply the adult imitating the student’s communicative act to reinforce the behavior. For students using AACstrategies, the adult may imitate a gesture, vocalization, or other body-based mode and reinforce the behavior’s meaning by providing a natural consequence that shows that the student’s intended message was understood. When students use SGDs to communicate, adults can verbally imitate or repeat the student’s message output. Communication partners can also imitate student actions (e.g., waving hands, reaching towards an object of interest, etc.) during interactions to extend the interaction and promote reciprocity.

Recasts

Recasts are imitations that add new information. For example, a student may use his SGD to say “walker recess” when it’s time to go outside for recess. The adult can expand or recast this message and say something like “yes, it’s time to get in your walker and go outside for recess”. If appropriate for the student and the context, the adult may use the student’s SGD to provide a recast that is within the student’s ability to compose. In the example above, this might look like using the AAC device to say “I want” + “walker” or “time for” + “recess.” Gestures and body-based communicative acts can also be recast by the adult adding more unaided information (e.g., another gesture), or adding augmented input (e.g., imitating gesture and pointing to a low-tech board). Recasts preserve the student’s intended meaning but add grammatical information, and they do not disrupt the flow of communication (Bunce, 2008).

Labeling

Labeling is a simple technique where the adult describes the actions, people, activities, and places in the student’s environment. Adults can provide the names of familiar and unfamiliar objects, as well as emotions and relational concepts.

Confirming

Confirming occurs when the adult responds to all communicative bids by verbally confirming understanding of the child’s perceived intentions. The adult does not ignore the child’s attempts at interaction, regardless of the communicative modality used by the child.

Augmentative Communication Input

Augmentative Communication Input refers to providing models and input using the student’s own aided AAC system. It is important for students with CCN to have rich spoken language input as well as competent models of how, when, and why to use SGDs, low-tech tools, or unaided modes (Sevcik and Romski, 2002).

Aided Language Stimulation

Aided Language Stimulation is a commonly referred to augmented input procedure where the adult provides ongoing spoken language input in conjunction with aided input, such as pointing to the student’s low-tech board or accessing their SGD.