Key Word Signing Usage of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: Influence of Communication Partners' Sign Usage and Responsivity

Purpose

In services for adults with intellectual disabilities, various staff members may have different key word signing (KWS) skills and conversational style. Little is known about how these clients use KWS with different staff members. Therefore, we observed staff–client conversations and examined how clients' KWS usage was shaped by staff members' KWS usage and conversational style.

Method

Three 10-min dyadic conversations between an adult with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities (N = 15) and three familiar staff members were filmed and transcribed. The KWS usage and conversational responsivity in the transcriptions was analyzed at group (using generalized estimating equations), subgroup, and individual levels.

Results

Clients appeared to produce significantly more KWS as partners imitated more signs and as partners were more responsive. There was a negative interaction between these two factors. Subgroup analyses showed that spontaneity of clients' KWS usage was a continuum.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that staff can encourage clients' KWS usage by imitating manual signs but that clients' response efficiency should also be taken into account.

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