The Communication Matrix involves three major aspects of communication: the reasons that people communicate,
the specific messages they express and the behaviors they use to communicate those messages.
Four Reasons to Communicate
The Matrix is organized into four major reasons to communicate that appear across the top of the columns on the Profile: to
REFUSE things that we don't want; to OBTAIN things that we do want; to engage in
SOCIAL interaction; and to provide or seek INFORMATION.
Under each of these four major reasons are more specific messages that people communicate:
these correspond to the questions that you must answer as you complete the Matrix online.
The specific messages are:
| 1. REFUSE |
|---|
| Expresses Discomfort |
| Protests |
| Refuses or Rejects Something |
|
| 2. OBTAIN |
|---|
| Expresses Comfort |
| Continues an Action |
| Obtains More of Something |
| Requests More of an Action |
| Requests a New Action |
| Requests More of an Object |
| Makes Choices |
| Requests a New Object |
| Requests Objects that Are Absent |
|
| 3. SOCIAL |
|---|
| Expresses Interest in Other People |
| Attracts Attention |
| Requests Attention |
| Shows Affection |
| Greets People |
| Offers Things or Shares |
| Directs Someone’s Attention to Something |
| Uses Polite Social Forms |
|
| 4. INFORMATION |
|---|
| Answers "Yes" and "No" Questions |
| Asks Questions |
| Names Things or People |
| Makes Comments |
|
Seven Levels of Communication
The Matrix is further organized into seven levels of communicative behavior, represented by the seven rows on the Profile. These levels are:
- I. Pre-Intentional Behavior
The child’s behavior is not under his own control–but it reflects his general state (such as hungry or wet or sleepy). Parents interpret the child’s state from his general behaviors, such as body movements, facial expressions and sounds.
- II. Intentional Behavior
The child’s behavior is now intentional (under the child’s control), but she does not understand that "If I do this, Mom or Dad will do that for me"–in other words she does not communicate intentionally yet. Parents continue to interpret the child’s needs and desires from her behavior, such as body movements, facial expressions, vocalizations and eye gaze.
- INTENTIONAL COMMUNICATION BEGINS HERE, WITH LEVEL III
- III. Unconventional Communication
The child uses pre-symbolic behaviors intentionally to express his needs and desires to other people. The behaviors used to communicate are pre-symbolic because they do not involve any sort of symbol. They are called "unconventional" because they are not socially acceptable for us to use as we grow older: they include body movements, vocalizations, facial expressions and simple gestures (such as tugging on people).
- IV. Conventional Communication
The child uses pre-symbolic behaviors intentionally to express her needs and desires to other people. The behaviors used to communicate are pre-symbolic because they do not involve any sort of symbol. "Conventional" gestures include behaviors such as pointing and nodding the head "yes". The meanings of these gestures are determined by the specific culture in which they are used. We continue to use conventional gestures as adults to accompany our language. Note that many of these gestures (and especially pointing) require good visual skills and may not be appropriate for children with severe vision impairment.
- SYMBOLIC COMMUNICATION STARTS HERE, WITH LEVEL V
- V. Concrete Symbols
The child uses what we call "concrete" symbols that physically resemble what they represent in a way that is obvious to the child—they look like, feel like, move like or sound like what they represent. Concrete symbols include picture symbols, objects used as symbols (such as a shoelace to represent "shoe"), certain "iconic" gestures (such as patting a chair to say "sit down") and sounds (such as making a buzzing sound to refer to a bee). Children with severe physical impairments may access picture and object symbols through the use of a mechanical device or by pointing, touching or eye gaze. Note that children who are already able to use abstract symbols (Level VI) do not need to use concrete symbols. Many children skip this stage. For some children who have not learned to use abstract symbols, however, concrete symbols (Level V) may serve as a bridge to using abstract symbols (Level VI).
- VI. Abstract Symbols
The child uses abstract symbols such as speech, manual signs, or Brailled or printed words. These symbols are NOT physically similar to what they represent. They are used one at a time.
- VII. Language
The child combines symbols (any sort of symbols) into ordered two- or three-symbol combinations ("want juice", "me want juice"), according to grammatical rules. The child understands that the meaning of word combinations may differ depending upon how the symbols are arranged.