Chapter 3 AAC

assessment requirements

• individuals unmet communication priorities for now and the future

• available supports and barriers

  • individuals capabilities across a wide domain

what are the 3 components of AAC intervention?

1. Selection and personalization of AAC to provide effective

means of communication.

2. Instruction in the necessary strategies and skills that the individual requires to communicate effectively via AAC.

3. Instruction of family members and other important communication partners to ensure meaningful opportunities for communication and the necessary supports to interact effectively.

principles of AAC intervention

• system for today

  • system for tomorrrow

3 types of intervention?

1. Interventions that utilize environmental

adaptations

2. Interventions designed to increase natural capabilities

3. Interventions that incorporate AAC strategies and techniques (Participation model)

2 components to adapting the environment

• space and location adaptations

  • physical structure adaptation

what do we start with in AAC

the participation model

communicative competence

1) functionality of communication in real-world contexts

2) adequacy of communication to meet demands in daily interactions

3) sufficiency of knowledge, judgment, and skills in linguistic, operational, social, and strategic domains

domains of communication competence

• linguistic

• operational

• social

  • strategic

how to determine goals

1. Review the contexts identified as priorities by the individual and family members.

2. analyze the strategies and skills required to participate effectively within these contexts

3. review the individuals current capabilities in comparison to those required

4. identify gaps in the individuals strategies and skills

   1. set goals as priorities to be targeted in intervention

questions to ask the family

• what is most important to the individual

• what is valued by the family

• what will have the greatest impact

• what can be used regularly in the real world

  • which are most likely to be learned successfully?

choosing instructional procedures depends on:

• age

• individual needs and abilities

• target strategyt/skill

• supports/demands

• external/internal evidence

responsive social pragmatic intervention

• intervention typically occurs within naturally occuring interactions in response to the child’s interests

• intervention is highly flexible

• when responsive interventions are used in AAC typically they involve aac modeling

AAC Modeling

The communication

partner uses unaided and/or aided

AAC in conjunction with spoken

input.

 Modeling approaches vary on a

continuum from more structured

interventions to stimulation that is

infused within daily activities.

 Some focus more on promoting

comprehension, and others focus on

models to promote expression.

explicit instruction

More structured

 Founded on principles of ABA

 Characterized by numerous

instructional trials to provide repeated

opportunities for practice

 Tightly defined target behaviors or

skills (often taught incrementally)

 Identification of discriminative stimuli

associated with the opportunity to use

the

skill

 Feedback for correct and incorrect

responses

strategy instruction

incorporates models and demonstrations

of target strategies or skills, coaching or

prompting support, and feedback on the

individual’s performance

coaching

Relies on explanations of the target strategies

and skills, typically accompanied by

demonstrations as well as opportunities to

practice the strategies and skills with

feedback on performance.

 The AAC team meets with the individual and

discusses the target strategy or skill, benefits

of its use, and situations in which it should

(and should not) be used.

 The team provides opportunities for the

individual to practice use of the strategy or

skill during these interactions, and gives

feedback on the individual’s performance.

prompting techniques

Prompts are used to help the individual learn the

strategy or skill successfully.

 Often prompts are provided in a sequence or

hierarchy during instruction:

 Least-to-most prompting hierarchy or a most-

to-least prompting hierarchy.

evaluate the intervention:

Outcomes – positive, negative, expected, or unexpected?

• Is the focus of the intervention still centered on the

individual and family values?

• Evaluate:

• Acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of

strategies and skills

• Keep in mind any changes - good or bad

• Grow with the client

time delay

provide extended wait time to ensure time to use the skill

expectaant time delay

provode extended wait time along with expectant facial expression and eye contact to designate the opportunty and ensure time to use the skill