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Ciara Ousley, assistant professor of special education and communication disorders, is evaluating the effects of siblings as communication partners among children with autism who use augmentative and alternative communication.
Understanding Sibling Relational Dynamics to Support Autistic Children Who Use AAC
Research Team
Principal Investigator: Ciara Ousley
Co-Principal Investigators: HyeonJin Yoon
Funding Information
Funding Agency: CYFS Signature Research Impact Program
Award Date: Jul 1, 2025
End Date: Jun 30, 2027
Abstract
Autism is the most rapidly growing disability category in Nebraska. Roughly 30% of autistic children will not develop functional vocal speech by age 4, requiring communication supports such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
Family-implemented interventions can boost communication and AAC use, yet current practice often excludes siblings as communication partners. Siblings are critical communication partners who spend significant time with their autistic siblings, especially during play. Neglecting to train siblings to support their autistic sibling’s AAC use sets the 686,000 autistic children who use AAC up for a lifetime of social isolation.
However, to best support family-based interventions, the relational dynamics among family member and autistic children who use AAC must be better understood. Neglecting to understand these dynamics may lead to decreased sustainability and scalability of future interventions.
This project is designed to enhance understanding of the relational dynamics between typically developing and autistic siblings who use AAC. Researchers will identify each siblings’ perception of their relationship with one another — for example, dynamics, roles and responsibilities — through child and parent semi-structured interviews. Researchers will then evaluate typical sibling-sibling play-time interactions, observing what strategies siblings use and the number of communicative turns during recorded play time.
Data will lay the foundational knowledge required to create more opportunities for autistic children who use AAC to thrive, thus mitigating the potential life-long social isolation many autistic children face.
Ciara Ousley, assistant professor of special education and communication disorders, is evaluating the effects of siblings as communication partners among children with autism who use augmentative and alternative communication.