Pre-intentional and Intentional Communication in Pre-linguistic Profoundly Mentally Retarded Multihandicapped Adults

Abstract

Twelve young adults with profound mental retardation and multiple sensory and motor handicaps were videotaped as they interacted with a researcher who presented them with eight objects, familiar and novel, moving and still. From transcriptions of the videotapes, the subjects' actions and reactions judged to be communicative were described, analyzed, and categorized. The analyses were then compared to descriptions of pre-intentional and intentional communication in normally-developing children. Results indicated that the subjects exhibited many communicative behaviors present in normal children of the same developmental language and mental ages. Subjects with language and mental ages of less than eight months exhibited pre-intentional communicative behaviors typical of infants aged eight months or younger. They reacted to and acted upon stimuli without apparent realization that their actions had communicative value. Subjects with language and mental ages over eight months exhibited communicative intents shown by typical children eight months of age or older. These subjects showed awareness that their actions could be directed to a message receiver who would understand their communicative intent. Results could have implications for assessment and treatment of individuals with similar developmental disorders.