ASLP 5850 Exam I (AAC)

aided AAC

• usage of something outside of the body

• involves some form of equipment or technology

• examples: communication board, PECS

unaided AAC

• you are using your own body

• no external equipment or technology

• ex: vocalizations and speech approximations, gestures, signs, eye blink codes

low tech AAC

• communication boards/books

• objects

• pictures

• visual schedules

high tech AAC

• computer/tablet/smartphone

  • communication apps such as AAC software that enable dynamic symbol/language representation

  • text to speech features

• single message devices and recordable digitized devices

• speech generating devices (SGD)

what is assistive technology

“any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilties”

what are the purposes of AAC

• communication of needs and wants

• information transfer

• social closeness

• social etiquette

• communicate with oneself

communication of needs and wants

• goal: regulate behavior of someone else as a means to fulfill wants and needs

• focus of interaction is desired object or action

• duration of interaction is limited

• content is important

• highly predictable

information transfer

• goal is to share information

• focus of interaction is info

• duration of interaction may be lengthy

• content is important

social closeness

• goal is to establish, maintain, and/or develop personal relationships

• focus of interaction is interpersonal relationship

• duration of interaction may be lengthy

• content isn’t as important

• may be somewhat predictable

social etiquette

• goal is to follow social norms of politeness (ex: greetings)

• focus of interaction is social convention

• duration of interaction is limited

• content is not important

• somewhat predictable

communicate with oneself (internal dialogue)

• communicate with oneself or to conduct an internal dialogue

• ex: diaries, journals, list of future plans, daily schedules

content words

• refer to words that have a specific meaning

• includes nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, question words

• carries meaning

• ex: house, car, girl, who, intelligent

function words

• represented by articles, conjunctions, modals, pronouns, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs

• grammatical structure

• ex: can, must, have to, a, the, near, with

core words

• high-frequency words to comprise messages

• small number of words

• applies to all topics

• applies to all environments

• variety of parts of speech (verbs, pronouns, adjectives)

fringe words

• low frequency words

• large number of words

• limited environments

• useful in 1-2 situations

• related to a specific topic

• mostly nouns

vocabulary selection for preliterate individuals

• vocabulary to communicate essential messages

• developmental vocabulary (helps develop language skills)

vocabulary selection for non-literate individuals

• aims to meet daily, ongoing, functional communication needs in a variety of environments

• functional approach to selection

• new vocabulary when new environments or participation opportunities are encountered

vocabulary selection for literate individuals

• timing enhancement

• message acceleration

• fatigue reduction

how is vocabulary selection different for preliterate or nonliterate individuals

preliterate aims to develop vocabulary and communicate essential messages whereas nonliterate takes a functional approach to selection by aiming to meet daily, ongoing, and functional communication

considerations about timing enhancement, message acceleration, and fatigue reduction that should be made when selecting vocabulary for literate individuals

• making sure it’s not taking them too long to put together their responses

• the way to use the AAC matches their physical abilities

• not requiring too much work on their end

multimodal communication

• rely on different modes of communication - unaided and aided

• multiple modes may be used to communicate a single message

• important for both expression and comprehension

• augmented input

what is augmented input

total communication → using signs and speech

• ex: speech + pointing at pics on page

what is a symbol

• “something used for or regarded as representing something else”

• ex: hand doing an “ok” sign, pointing, etc.

gestures

• fine motor movements of the fingers, hands, and arms, as well as facial expressions, body movements, or postures

• types:

  • gesture involving contact with the referent

  • gestures that don’t involve contact with the referent (ex: pointing to a ball)

  • eye pointing (ex: eye gaze to a snack)

  • representational or iconic gestures (ex: moving hand up for “drink”)

  • conventional gestures (ex: nodding head for yes)

what are manual sign systems

• access to greater range of vocabulary

• ASL - true language system

• seldom used in AAC intervention

advantages of manual sign systems

• useful to augment expression and/or comprehension

• less physically demanding than speech production

• don’t require external equipment

disadvantages of manual sign systems

• most don’t know manual sign languages

• meaning cannot be easily guessed

partial object examples

• part of the front of a cereal box used to represent cereal

• label from a bottle of all-purpose cleaner to represent cleaning the kitchen

associated object examples

leash for walk the dog, sponge for clean the kitchen

tangible symbols

• permanent and manipulatable with a simple motor behavior

• ex: spoon, fork, cut out of a label

• would use with someone with severe intellectual disability (it’s concrete)

advantages of using photographs in an AAC system

• more portable

• represent a greater range of concepts than real, partial, or associated objects

• can be exchanged to communicate a request (PECS)

• can be offered for choices

• can be organized in a grid in a low tech communication board or book

• visual scene displays

what are the considerations in selecting line drawing symnols

• factors related to the vocabulary concepts represented (motivational value, familiarity, concreteness

  • iconicity - transparent (very obvious), translucent, opaque(not obvious)

  • factors related to the individual with complex communication needs

grid display

• language concept is represented by a symbol which is organized in rows and columns in a grid pattern

• few symbols or a diverse range of vocabulary concepts

• can support a wide range of communication outcomes

• don’t capture the functional relationships between people, actions, and objects

visual scene display

• integrated scenes, typically photographs, of meaningful and motivating events within an individual’s life

• language concepts are represented by “hotspots” in the scene

• beneficial for both beginning communicators with developmental disabilities and adults with acquired conditions (ex: an adult with severe Broca’s aphasia)

schematic grid display

• all related to one topic

• ex: everything on one single page relates to getting ready

taxonomic grid display

organized by category, typically developing kids will not use until around 6-7

semantic-syntactic grid display

seen in commonly used apps

pragmatic organization of dynamic display

• combination of types of vocabulary organization

• activity displays are used for predictable activities

• taxonomic category displays are used for less predictable messages

• incorporate navigational strategies

• to increase efficiency, vocabulary words are repeated in multiple places

chronological grid

• commonly confused with schematic grid

• organized by schedule/sequence of events

• helps individuals who have difficulties with change

idiosyncratic grid display

organized by how the person wants it to be, very specific to them

what is a transition to literacy (T2L) feature and what is the benefit

• feature can enhance single-word reading

• use motion to learn words

• useful because it’ll attract their visual attention

• helps transition the user from symbols to reading and written text

what are some advantages of visual scene display

• preserve visual and functional relationships between people and objects

• natural scenes allow for rapid visual processing

what are disadvantages of visual scene displays

• primarily semantic systems

• don’t support advanced morphosyntactic development

benefits of video VSDs

• integrate AAC supports into videos to facilitate communication

• capitalize on preferred activities

• reduce joint attention demands

• capture spatial and temporal cues

• motion within the videos serves as a powerful attractor of visual attention

hybrid displays

both pictures and words

just in time programming

• programming concepts that happen just as those concepts are needed by the individual to express them

• supports quick and easy programming

• allows individuals to be more activity engaged with programming

• supports vocabulary acquisition and expressive communication

alphabetic encoding

• truncation codes: abbreviate words by first few letters (ex: HAMB)

• contraction codes: include only the most salient letters (ex: HMBGR)

iconic encoding

• unity utilizes encoding

• developed in 1982 and referred to as Minspeak

• picture icons are selected for rich semantic associations

• ex: apple could be apple, food, fruit, eat, bite

• relies on a fixed display

• line drawings have more than one meaning

prediction techniques

• prediction: process in which options are offered according to a word or message that has already been formulated

• communication partners can predict words or messages based on letters or words selected

• language model in an AAC app may also make predictions

• most predictions occur at the word level

what is selection set

• visual, auditory, or tactile presentation of all messages, symbols, photographs, and codes

• most displays are presented visually

• auditory or tactile displays are used for those with visual impairments

• options a user has to create a message

fixed display

• presentations don’t change

• symbols and representation are fixed in a particular location

• also referred to as static

• typically used in low tech communication boards and some AAC techs

dynamic display

• computer screen displays that can be changed to a new set of symbols

• require navigation (home screen, navigation bar)

• wide variety of AAC products

what physical characteristics should be considered about the selection set display and what is important about each?

• number of representations

• size of representations and display

• spacing and arrangement of representations

• orientation of the display

different means of direct selection

• physical contact - no pressure required, just touch

• physical pressure or depression to activate technology

• pointing (no contact) - eye pointing or tracking

timed activation

sustained contact to make a selection

release activation

release contact to make a selection

filtered or averaged activation

brief movements away from specific items are ignored

benefits of prediction techniques

• reduce the number of selections required which will decrease effort

• provides spelling support for those who can recognize words but have trouble spelling accurately

• provides grammatic support for those who have difficulties with morphosyntax

• increase communication rate for those who rely on scanning and have slow rates of communication

circular scanning

representations are scanned in a circular motion

linear scanning

representations are scanned row by row

group item scanning

• row column scanning

• When an AAC device is set up with rows and columns, it can be set to scan an entire row first, by highlighting the row

message output

information that is sent to the communication partner

message input

information that people who rely on AAC receive from others

synthesized speech

• “electronic speech”

• text to speech: text converted to digital signals

• digitized speech: natural speech is recorded, stored, and reproduced

• reduces communication partner burden

• doesn’t require you to first get someone’s attention bc they’ll hear you