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A Comparison Of The Spontaneous Utterances Of Students With Autism Across Two Educational Settings, Mary E. Peterson

Dissertations

Students with autism are being mainstreamed into general education classes in increasing numbers. This practice is based on the largely theoretical assumptions that normal peers will provide models of appropriate communication skills as well as increased opportunities for social interaction. However, there are few empirical studies available to corroborate these beliefs.

The purpose of this study was to compare the functional communication of the same group of students with autism across two settings, their general education classrooms and their self-contained, special education classrooms. Each of the students spent time in both settings during each school day. Their spontaneous language was …