Repair Strategies Used by Verbal Students With Autism During Free Play

Abstract

This study assessed the repair strategies used by verbal students with autism (N = 12) when faced with verbal requests for clarification, gestural requests, not attending and not responding, and wrong responses. Data were collected in request contexts contrived by the communication partner during free play. The results indicated that most of the students repaired more than 80% of the communication breakdowns. In addition, they tended to choose communication forms that reflected the social meaning of the breakdown. However, they were likely to rely on unconventional forms when they faced wrong response breakdowns.