Eliciting Language Samples for Analysis (ELSA) Administration Manual Introduction Eliciting Language Samples for Analysis (ELSA) is a protocol designed to collect natural language samples from children and adolescents with varying language profiles. The protocol is a 15-30 minute play based activity that focuses on expressive language elicitation. ELSA is intended for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ages 5-20 and is appropriate for both minimally verbal and nonverbal children and adolescents. The protocol is intended to be administered in a naturalistic play setting and can be easily adapted based on the participant’s age and developmental level. ELSA can be administered by researchers, clinicians, parents, and teachers. ELSA consists of 9 activities that fall into 3 main sections. These 3 sections cover the most widely used language elicitation contexts: play, conversation, and narrative. The play context is divided into two sets of activities under the following themes Nature Adventure (5 activities) and Carnival and Crafts (2 activities). The conversation context should occur naturally during administration as administrators switch from one activity to the next. Administrators are encouraged to engage in conversations about the participants interests while cleaning up the toys from the previous activity. The narrative context occurs during the final activity when participants are asked to watch and then comment on/retell the plot of a short Pixar movie. Administers must complete all 9 activities for proper ELSA administration. ELSA PLAY: CONVERSATION Nature ELSA PLAY: NARRATIVE Adventure Carnival and Crafts Leaf Falling Clean Up and Chat Pixar Movie Crafts Shorts Planting an Acorn Bean Bag Toss Hide and Seek Animals Figure 1. Outline of ELSA consisting of three major Discovering/Helping the Animals sections, each containing one or more activity. Making a S'more 1 Administration Time During ELSA administration only the administrator and the child should be present in the room. If necessary, the child may have one behavioral support can present. The behavioral support should not participate in any of the activities. Administration time is dependent on the age, developmental level, and language ability of the participant, but it should take approximately 20 minutes. The proper ELSA administration requires the completion of all 9 ELSA activities. Administrators should follow the recommended order for administering the ELSA activities, however the activity order can be tailored to meet participant’s needs if necessary. For more information on protocol administration fidelity, go to ELSA Administration Fidelity. Materials The ELSA Materials kit includes the materials listed below. Note that these are recommended materials, so they can be substituted for similar ones depending on the needs of your project. The materials were chosen based on their ability to facilitate play, elicit verbal comments, and to engage both participants of a wide age range. Tablet With Pixar short movies downloaded on it Beanbag Toss Game Choice Board for Short Movies Coloring sheets/Construction paper Crayons Feathers Glue Markers Paper Tree and Animal Set (Tree, Bird, Raccoon, Squirrel, Small Owls, Leaves, and Acorn) Pretend & Play Camp Set (Lantern, Pan, Stove, Compass, Water Bottle, First-aid Kit, Shovel, Watch) S’more Materials (Graham Cracker, Marshmallow, Chocolate, Napkin)* Stickers Googly Eyes *Make sure to check whether your participants have any dietary restrictions that might not allow them to eat a s’more. If that is the case, pick a different snack to use during ELSA. Preparing for ELSA Please be sure to follow the preparation steps in advance. It will help you feel more confident and relaxed when you administer ELSA. 1. Watch the ELSA instructional video and finish reading the guide. 2. Set up the toys, tablet, and recording equipment in a small enclosed room while your child is distracted. [Tip: Only take out the toys you intend to use in the session] For Walk in the Woods activity, remember to hide the animals ahead of time and take pictures of the location with the tablet. 3. During ELSA games, you should try your best to engage the child through encouragement and follow up comments/questions (shown in the examples). Please make sure that the ELSA session is at least 20 MINUTES. 2 4. Start video and/or audio recording before you begin the ELSA administration. ELSA Play Time – Part 1 Nature Adventure Materials: Paper Tree and Animal Set (Tree, Bird, Raccoon, Squirrel, Small Owls, Leaves, and Acorn) Pretend & Play Camp Set (Lantern, Pan, Stove, Compass, Water Bottle, First-aid Kit, Shovel) S’more Materials (Graham Cracker, Marshmallow, Chocolate) Instructions: I. Leaf falling Description: Leaf Falling is a joint gross motor activity that gives the participant an opportunity to interact with the examiner by labeling various parts of a tree. This is intended for a warm-up activity for the individual and examiner to play together with a commonly seen object. Additionally, it is meant to elicit turn-taking between the examiner and participant. Materials: Paper tree Paper leaves Set Up and Instructions: 1. Place the paper tree on the wall. 2. Hold the paper leaves outward and in front of you. 3. Let the leaves fall after counting down. a. Ask the participant to match the leaves to the tree. Suggested lines: Look, this a (pause 3 seconds)...tree! Look, these are (pause 3 seconds)… leaves! What can we do with this/these? What happens to the leaves in the fall? Where would you put these leaves on this tree? II. Planting an Acorn activity Description: Planting an Acorn is a fine motor pretend-play task in which the participant can easily narrate his/her actions without needing complex vocabulary, as well as work together with the examiner in a task. Materials: Acorn from bulletin board set Shovel from camping set Set Up and Instructions 1. The tree should already be on the wall from the previous activity. 2. You can hand the acorns to the participant or place them under the tree. a. The goal is to engage in an activity in which you plant the acorns. 3 Suggested lines: What’s on the ground? What’d you find? What else can we look for? Look, this is an (pause 3 seconds)… acorn! Look, this an a (pause 3 seconds)...tree! What can we do with this/these? What else can we do? III. Hide and Seek Paper Animals Description: Hide and Seek Animals is a task intended to elicit descriptions of pictures of hidden paper animals on the tablet. This is done so the participant can both describe the animals as well as the environment around the animal. The paper animals, like a bird or squirrel, were chosen due to being commonly labeled and seen within media and outside in the environment. Children with ASD often enjoy interacting with animals may it be as toys, in videos, or in real life. Additionally, the tablet is used in this task because some individuals might need visual assistance in the task for those who might see it as too complex. Materials: Paper Bird, Squirrel, and Raccoon Tablet Set Up and Instructions: 1. Hide the paper animals around the room prior to administration. 2. Take pictures of the hidden animals with the tablet. 3. During the activity, show the participant the pictures one by one and have him/her look for the animals as if playing hide and seek. Suggested lines: We have some friends hiding around the room. Can you help me find them? Here is a photo –what do you see? What else do you see? Where shall we look now? What would you name the squirrel? The raccoon? The bird? Where have you seen a bird before? Where have you seen a squirrel before? Where would you hide the animals? IV. Discovering/Helping the Animals Description: Discovering/Helping the Animals is a loosely-structured pretend play activity in which the participant and examiner can express their creativity through stimulating and engaging toys. Different materials were chosen compared to the previous animal activity, because some individuals with ASD prefer toys that are plastic like a lion or elephant rather than the paper animals. Some individuals prefer more tactile/sensory toys. Additionally, the animals chosen in this task were chosen for their commonality in zoos as well as other platforms such as media and literature. This allows for opportunity for greater language elicitation. Materials: Compass Lantern 4 Water Bottle First Aid Kit Toy Animals Set Up and Instructions: 1. Place the toy animals in front of the child. 2. Use the compass to find them. 3. Talk about what one can do to help the animals if they are thirsty and/or get hurt in order to encourage the participant to talk about and use the water bottle and first aid kit. Suggested lines: Can you tell me what these are? What else do we have? Wow look! It is a (pause 3 seconds)….lion/tiger/gorilla/giraffe/elephant! Which one is your favorite? What should we do with them? What is this? I think he’s hurt! What shall we do? This is an animal/X. He seems thirsty. Can we help him? V. Making a S’more Description: Making a S’more is intended to elicit requesting of highly reinforcing edibles as well as labeling of said edibles. Additionally, the activity is also a reward for going on a pretend nature adventure with the participant in the previous activities in which they participated. Materials: Graham crackers Chocolate Marshmallow Toy pan Toy stove Set Up and Instructions: 1. Talk about food typically eaten while camping or around a campfire. 2. Present the edibles to the participant and ask them to label them and to guess what can be prepared with them.