How ABA May Support Navigating Interruptions and Overlapping Talk

Study the actual conversation setting

A family dinner, classroom, game, video call, work meeting, and emergency use different turn signals. Ask the person which settings are difficult and what outcome they want. The CASP public summary supports individualized context rather than one universal social rule.

Build accessible joining and holding signals

Options include a spoken phrase, name, hand signal, chat message, card, device message, or facilitator queue. The ASHA AAC portal supports continuous communication access. Allow adequate composition and delivery time; an AAC message may arrive after the spoken topic has moved.

Protect urgent and boundary communication

Help, stop, pain, unsafe, no, correction, and access messages should not wait behind a routine turn rule. Partners need a clear response plan. The ASAN self-determination page emphasizes effective communication and control. Distinguish urgent entry from optional topic contribution.

Teach repair after overlap

A partner can say I heard you, finish your thought, we spoke together, or return to your point after this sentence. The person can repeat, send text, save the thought, or pass. Measure whether the message was acknowledged and whether the person could resume, instead of counting every overlap as an error.

A practical example

Jae participates in eight group discussions. An accessible join signal is available in seven; in six of those, the facilitator acknowledges it and provides a turn. Access is 7 of 8 and partner follow-through is 6 of 7. Jae chooses to speak four times, type once, and pass once after acknowledgment.

Questions families can use

Ask which setting and turn pattern matter, what joining signal works, how AAC timing is handled, which messages are urgent, how a thought is saved, how partners acknowledge overlap, and what a pass means. ABA interruption skills should make conversation more accessible for the whole group.