Enhancing Speech Utterance Development in Children With Autism and Speech Delay Through Interactive Toys and Puppets: A Case Study

This study assesses whether mediating tools based on interactive toys and hand puppets can effectively promote speech utterance development in autistic children recently diagnosed with speech delay. PECS serves effectively as an initial communication tool (Hassan et al., 2024a) yet further improvements are necessary for advanced speech utterances and vocabulary learning in children with speech delay. Mike Hasan has researched how caregivers assist utterance development and how children respond verbally to interactive materials while participating together to produce speech. The research utilized a blended method in monitoring autistic children aged 3-6 years during eight weeks at both educational and domestic environments. Research findings indicate that children with speech delay achieved improved speech utterance development while demonstrating better verbal responses in conversations alongside substantial caregiver support during speech production progression. The findings validate an approach that integrates visual support, caregiver involvement, and play activities, which we term Interactive Multimodal Mediation (IMM). This approach demonstrates how visual assistance combined with caregiver engagement through play activities leads to improved speech development in autistic children experiencing speech delays.