The state of research and practice in augmentative and alternative communication for children with developmental/intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Augmentative and alternative communication is a compilation of methods and technology designed to supplement spoken communication for people with limited speech or language skills, including children with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The field of AAC has evolved rapidly within the last 10 years, due to a combination of empirical advances from research as well as rapid changes in technology. This article reviews some of the most significant aspects of this growth as it relates to children with developmental disabilities. Major issues within the field, the evidence base available to practitioners and researchers, and promising areas of future growth are identified.

Teachers’ perceptions of implementation of aided AAC to support expressive communication in South African special schools: a pilot investigation

“…Using aided AAC, and graphic symbol-based aided AAC in particular, brings with it certain challenges that are not experienced when using spoken communication and other unaided methods such as keyword signing (Gevarter et al, 2013;Smith, 2006;Wilkinson & Hennig, 2007). Although some challenges can be reduced by appropriate design (e.g., "just-in-time" programming capabilities; Schlosser et al, 2016); continuous customization; and ensuring a good fit between the person, the system, and the environment, many of these challenges remain inherent to graphic symbolbased aided AAC (Smith, 2006).…”

Quality of Life and Quality of Support for People with Severe Intellectual Disability and Complex Needs

“…Recognition of the importance of skilled staff support has led to attempts to codify and describe beneficial care practices such as, for example, active support (Stancliffe, Jones, & Mansell, 2008);Mansell and Beadle-Brown, 2012) augmentative and alternative communication (Wilkinson & Hennig, 2007), positive behaviour support (Koegel, Koegel, & Dunlap, 1996) or the National Autistic Society 'SPELL 1 ' framework (Beadle-Brown & Mills, 2010). Although the evidence base for the positive impact of active support on the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities is strong at least in the UK and Australia (see Stancliffe et al ., 2008;Mansell and Beadle-Brown, 2012 for reviews), the evidence base for other person-centred approaches is more limited.…”

A single case study of a family‐centred intervention with a young girl with cerebral palsy who is a multimodal communicator

“…AAC can be implemented in unaided forms such as signs or gestures, in low aided forms such as alphabet boards and communication books and in high-tech aided forms such as computer systems to supplement the user's natural communicative range. Implementation of an AAC mode into a child's communicative repertoire aims to overcome barriers with speech production by allowing for a wider range of communicative functions to enable participation and relationship building, reducing challenging behaviours, and serving as a bridge to further language development (Wilkinson & Hennig 2007).…”

“…However, several barriers can get in the way of developing successful AAC communication strategies. These can be inherent to the AAC method itself (Copley & Ziviani 2004;Bailey et al 2006;Johnson et al 2006), or relate to family's misconception about use of AAC replacing spoken communication (Hustad & Shapley 2003;Wilkinson & Hennig 2007) making them reluctant to adopt AAC modes (Iacono & Cameron 2009). Light et al (1994) describes communicative asymmetry between the AAC user and their communicative partner(s) as another barrier.…”