Augmentative and Alternative Communication最新文献

This study examined the effects of an intervention package using high-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with Naturalistic Instruction (NI), time delay, and prompting during social routines for preschoolers on the autism spectrum. The AAC was a communication application on a tablet programmed with color photo representations of participants and communication partners engaged in social routines. The primary dependent measure was a linguistic communication turn on the AAC device completing the instructor's cloze phrase related to the routine. A secondary dependent measure was prelinguistic communication -nonspecific vocalizations and smiling - within each turn of the routine. Results indicated that all communication types increased and maintained for all three participants with two participants meeting mastery criteria within the minimal number of sessions. These results are significant in providing additional evidence for the effectiveness of AAC intervention beyond teaching simple object requests and in teaching more socially meaningful communication to children on the autism spectrum. Additionally, this study supports the use of color photo representations to promote social interaction. Future research should continue to evaluate such interventions on a larger scale and include naturally occurring communication partners, such as siblings and peers.

Sharing personal stories with others is essential to human interaction and language development. To communicate, individuals use a variety of semiotic resources, including images, symbols, and written and spoken language. These modes are deployed in the co-construction of a daily face-to-face conversation. A self-created film can serve as a valuable resource to facilitate a deeper understanding of a personal experience, especially where spoken or written language may present a challenge, for example, for people who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Although the AAC literature indicates that using videos delivers benefits for aided communicators, guidelines on how to self-create, use, and transcribe them are rare. The present paper, a tutorial, describes how people who use AAC can develop a personal-video-scene (PVS) via the Film as Observable Communication (FaOC) method to utilize self-created films in sharing their stories. The first part of this paper, the theoretical framework, describes theories, methods, and practices from the fields of AAC, social semiotics, and visual anthropology, on which the FaOC method is based. The second part provides a step-by-step tutorial delivering practical guidance on how to create, use, and transcribe the PVS as a resource in conversations.

Smart Predict is a novel two-tablet application developed to improve conversational efficiency for people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. The Smart Predict system consists of two distinct applications that were built for use with two Android tablets and/or phones with Bluetooth^® capability. One application is referred to as the AAC User app and the second application is called the Partner app. Smart Predict integrates vocabulary supplementation from communication partners in real-time while persons who rely on AAC generate text and maintain full control to choose words within a word prediction line. Using single-case research designs with adapted alternating treatments under two counterbalanced treatment conditions (AAC User app alone versus AAC User app + Partner app), we examined message efficiency with persons who rely on switch scanning for on-screen keyboards. User experience questionnaires were administered to determine satisfaction and workload, and to provide feedback for future development efforts. Three adults with complex communication needs and motor impairments conversed with research staff about fourteen movie trailers. Characters per minute and switch selections per character produced by the person with complex communication needs and motor impairments were measured during 15-minute interviews to represent communication speed and effort. Results indicate that message efficiency increased with the dual-tablet Smart Predict, indicating faster message generation with the vocabulary supplementation system. User satisfaction increased and perceived effort decreased under the Smart Predict conditions. Given these results within a research and development framework, the Smart Predict concept is a viable feature that could be considered within smart AAC technologies.

Since effective and successful AAC service delivery relies on the knowledge and competence of professionals in the field of AAC, sufficient training in AAC will equip professionals to provide quality AAC service delivery. However, many professionals lack training in AAC and structured opportunities for professional development are sorely needed. As there is no consensus on the amount, mode of delivery and content of AAC training, the purpose of this scoping review was to identify AAC training programs for professional development and to describe the characteristics and effects of such programs. A five-pronged search strategy was used to identify relevant studies. The certainty framework was used to appraise the quality of included studies. Charted data included general study characteristics; participant characteristics; training characteristics (i.e., training goals; instructional materials and strategies; training duration); quality appraisal; and reported effects of the training. The scoping review identified 34 studies for inclusion. The results showed the potential of AAC training programs for continuous professional development to increase professionals' skills in AAC intervention. A range of training characteristics was identified to guide the development of future training programs. Gaps in the research related to the training of AAC professionals were also identified to guide future research.

Key word signing (KWS) is an unaided form of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and is frequently used by children with cognitive impairments and their families. Successful implementation of KWS requires a family environment that provides aided language input by modeling the signs. However, families face challenges implementing the signs in their everyday lives. KWS requires effort and sustained parental commitment. Users may also struggle with finding good learning resources and stimulating and enjoyable shared contexts for communication. Signed videos of popular children's books may help to implement KWS and create a signing environment which exposes children and their families to KWS in meaningful ways. The aim of this study was to create videos of this type and investigate whether and how they might serve as an attractive medium of support for families' KWS experience. Three families tested the videos. A triangulated qualitative study incorporating interviews and participant observation explored the families' experience of using these videos as a context for shared communication. The findings suggest that picture book videos supplemented by KWS may be appropriate resources for the use of KWS in everyday family life. They serve as a child-centered activity involving KWS exposure, in which children and their families can participate joyfully and naturally.

This qualitative study aimed to describe speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') perspectives on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) use for people with post-stroke aphasia focusing on: (a) current AAC practice, (b) factors that influence the use of AAC, and (c) the success and relevance of AAC interventions. Semi-structured interviews took place with ten South African SLPs with experience in aphasia intervention. The transcribed interviews were thematically analyzed using a six-phase process of inductive and deductive analysis within a phenomenological framework. All the participants use AAC with their clients, employing a variety of approaches that reflect their diverse settings, experiences, and perspectives on AAC. AAC use is complex, and SLPs make conscious choices considering multiple factors. Barriers to use were often associated with limited resources in the low- and middle-income country (LMIC) context, but most participants retained a positive view of AAC, actively working to circumvent barriers to use. Participants consistently emphasized the vital role of partners in communication interactions, linked to the importance of defining AAC broadly. It is necessary to advance the integration of AAC into rehabilitation plans to improve communication and social participation outcomes for people with post-stroke aphasia, especially in LMICs such as South Africa.

It is well-known that children with expressive communication difficulties have the right to communicate, but they should also have the right to do so in whichever language they choose, with a voice that closely matches their age, gender, and dialect. This study aimed to develop naturalistic synthetic child speech, matching the vocal identity of three children with expressive communication difficulties, using Tacotron 2, for three under-resourced South African languages, namely South African English (SAE), Afrikaans, and isiXhosa. Due to the scarcity of child speech corpora, 2 hours of child speech data per child was collected from three 11- to 12-year-old children. Two adult models were used to "warm start" the child speech synthesis. To determine the naturalness of the synthetic voices, 124 listeners participated in a mean opinion score survey (Likert Score) and optionally gave qualitative feedback. Despite limited training data used in this study, we successfully developed a synthesized child voice of adequate quality in each language. This study highlights that with recent technological advancements, it is possible to develop synthetic child speech that matches the vocal identity of a child with expressive communication difficulties in different under-resourced languages.

The selection of high-tech AAC for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder can be a challenging process due to the vast array of options available. One of the decisions that clinicians need to make involves how vocabulary will be organized on the display. This study aimed to compare a visual scene display (VSD) with a grid display using a multiple-probe design across participants with an embedded adapted alternating treatment design. Four young children with autism spectrum disorder who were beginning communicators were recruited and taught to request preferred items using two display formats: VSD and grid layout on a mainstream tablet with an AAC app. Two of the participants achieved criterion with both displays, the other two participants failed to achieve criterion in either display. For all participants, progress was similar in both displays. The results are discussed through the lens of each participant's characteristics with suggestions for clinical decision-making.

A socio-neurocognitive approach to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) shows several underlying domains of communicative competence: Attention, perception, cognition, memory, orientation, socio-emotional development, motor skills, and language. To determine developmental markers of these underlying core domains of communicative competence in children with communication support needs, we developed a new screening instrument. The present article consists of three consecutive studies. In study 1, we constructed the first version of the screening instrument based on a sample of both children without disabilities and children with Down syndrome. In study 2, we confirmed the reliability (i.e., internal consistency) of the screening instrument in a new group of young children with typical development and established concurrent validity with the Early Language Scale. In study 3, we established concurrent validity with the Communication Matrix in a clinical sample of children with communication support needs. The screening instrument can be used in clinical practice as part of AAC assessment to provide comprehensive insights into strengths and weaknesses in the underlying core domains of communicative competence of children with communication support needs.

Communication accessibility has been defined by many scholars and organizations, but it is generally described as clear communication that everyone can access and understand. The objective of this manuscript was to assess communication accessibility for people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) within a variety of restaurant settings through interviewing five adults who utilize AAC as their primary form of communication. Interviews were qualitatively coded and revealed common communication accessibility themes restaurants and restaurant staff were not implementing, such as direct communication and increasing AAC awareness. The implications of the interview data include its potential usage in training restaurant staff and management to utilize communication accessibility tips and features to increase the communication accessibility of the restaurant patrons they serve, especially for individuals who use AAC. This could then lead researchers in creating a formal training schema for restaurants to implement into their businesses reliably and effectively.