Communication Continuum 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yes

Although the signals which a person is showing are not intentional communication, if they are given a meaning by a communication partner they become communication.

For instance- Hannah cries because she is uncomfortable and wants to change positions; her sister hears her crying and eventually works out that she is uncomfortable, at which point she assists Hannah to change her position.

It can take a while to work out what a signal means at this stage. This is because it is not intentionally aimed at a particular person or consequence as it is at the Intentional and Intentional-Symbolic stages of the Communication Continuum.

At this stage the partner has to do a lot of guessing before they can work out what an individual's signals (behaviours, vocalizations etc) mean.

This is obvious when you look at what happens when a parent first brings their child home from the hospital (at which time the child is in the Pre-Intentional stage of communication.) The baby cries - the parent then has to try to find out what is wrong. This involves a lot of trial and error. A parent may start with "Is bub's nappy dirty?", if it's not that they may try "Is baby hungry?" by offering the baby a bottle (or breast if breast feeding), which the baby will either accept or reject. If the baby rejects the feed the parents have to keep guessing until they work out what the baby is crying for.

Answer: Pre-Intentional

A new born is on the Pre, or Un-Intentional stage of the communication continuum. A typically developing child will not usually reach the Intentional stage of the continuum until they are roughly 8-10 months of age.

Answer: Yes

It generally depends who you talk to as to what term is used. I personally use the term Pre-Intentional. When I was studying the Communication Continuum the material we were given had the heading of Un-Intentional, Intentional and Intentional-Symbolic communication. My teacher told us to change Un-Intentional to Pre-Intentional. I like this term better as it gives you the idea that although the communication isn't intentional yet there is the possibility of it becoming intentional in the future.

Answer: Emiline opens her mouth when she sees the food on the fork coming towards her mouth

Emiline's communication is unintentional, which means she is in the Pre-Intention stage of communication. This is because the behaviour being exhibited is not clear in either its intention or in whom it is aimed at. The carer's most likely response to this behaviour is to put more food in Emiline's mouth. However Emiline may not want more food, she may be opening her mouth just to open her mouth, or because she is uncomfortable.

Wendy is in the Intentional stage of communication as her communication has both an intended result (to get a biscuit) and a person at whom it is being aimed (her brother.) In taking him to the biscuit tin and pointing to it she is telling him she wants something out of it. His response is most likely going to be, and in most cases should be, to open the tin and give her a biscuit.

Tony is in the Intentional-Symbolic stage of communication. This is shown by the fact that he uses symbols (sign language) to ask for more bouncing.

Answer: Yes

It shows in the reactions you get to certain behaviours which are part of what you do every day.

These can be as simple as scratching your head. In doing this you are communicating to other people that your head itches or that you are confused.

Answer: 1st

Starting from the beginning, the Communication Continuum starts at Pre or Un-Intentional communication, then goes to Intentional communication and then on to Intentional-Symbolic communication.

Answer: Copying the individual's actions and repeating them back to them.

Copying the individual's actions and repeating them back is how we naturally communicate with young infants. It has, however, become a good way of working with older individuals who due to their disability are still in the Pre-Intentional stage of communication.

In this stage it is called Intensive Interaction.

http://www.intensiveinteraction.co.uk/about/what.php

If this link does not work try doing a web search for intensive interaction.

Answer: Perlocutionary

By technical term, I mean the term used by people such as speech pathologists, and others who are researching communication, not the term used by families, carers, teachers, etc who work with individuals who are in this stage of communication.

Perlocutionary is the technical term for Pre-Intentional communication.

Illocutionary is the technical term for Intentional communication.

Sybolicary is to my knowledge a word I made up. It is meant however to sound like it may be a technical term for Symbolic communication.

Un-Intentional is an alternative term used for Pre-Intentional communication, however it is not the technical term.

Sorry about how technical this question is. There's not that much information on this stage of communication.

Answer: Yes

A person in the Pre-Intentional stage of communication will react to events around them. This may be through something subtle such as closing their eyes when they hear a loud sound.

Although it is not a traditional comment on events like asking "What was that?" it is still communication.

The individual may be communicating that they are scared of a sound.

Answer: Communication at a Pre-Intentional level is often subtle and can be missed by carers, meaning they do not respond

The main barrier is the subtlety of communication at the Pre-Intentional level. It can be very hard to work out what an individual wants. This is especially true when non-verbal communication or signals are being used. In the research I did for this quiz I found quite a few sites which said that parents tended to respond more to the un-intentional verbal actions of their children (like crying) than they did to the un-intentional non-verbal actions of their children (like closing their eyes) as the non-verbal signals were harder to work out.

If a person is in the Pre-Intentional stage of communication they would not yet realise what symbols are, and as communication is for most individuals with a disability the only way for them to get the appropriate care they need, I doubt they would put off communicating until they could use symbols, particularly when they are at a stage when symbols mean nothing to them.

The answer about some individuals with disabilities not being able to learn is clearly wrong. Everyone can learn. The only difference is what and how much they are able to learn. If you disagree with this assessment contact me. I can give you at least one thesis which proves that individuals with a Profound Intellectual Disability can learn and can probably find others if I look.