The September issue of AAC is a special issue with Jeff Higginbotham as the guest editor. He has put together an issue entitled “State of the Science in AAC,” which is authored by members of the
John Todman (Editor AAC)
Key Principles Underlying Research and Practice in AAC
Sarah Blackstone, Michael Williams, and David Wilkins (Canada and Australia)
Each area of research and practice is governed by certain principles. These principles serve as goals or standards and provide a framework within which to construct and evaluate various activities within a field. Sometimes the principles are explicitly stated. This article sets forth six widely agreed upon principles that guide the work of AAC researchers and developers in the area of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The field of AAC offers technologies and strategies that positively affect the lives of millions of individuals with complex communication needs (CCN) around the world. The first principle highlights the critical need for individuals who rely on AAC to participate actively in all AAC research and practice, so as to ensure that the AAC technologies and strategies reflect their needs and priorities in meaningful ways. A second principle emphasizes the importance of grounding AAC research and development activities in widely accepted theoretical constructs, taken both from within and outside the field. A third principle underscores the importance of relying on accepted ergonomic principles when designing AAC technologies. Principle four stresses the crucial and sometimes unique roles communication partners play during interactions with individuals with CCN. The fifth principle calls attention to the purposes of AAC technologies, which extend beyond language and communication in ways that must enable individuals with CCN to maintain, expand and strengthen existing social networks and relationships, as well as to meet their personal goals and fulfil meaningful societal roles. Principle six addresses the importance of outcomes that are practical and have social validity to multiple stakeholder groups. Although there are more principles
impacting the work within the field of AAC, these six are considered primary, especially by those participating in the
AAC Technologies for Young Children with Complex Communication Needs:
State of the Art and Future Research Directions
Janice Light and Kathryn Drager (USA)
When our own children were born, we marveled at the magic of their first years as they developed language skills and learned to communicate with others. We wondered how to capture this same magic for infants and toddlers with complex communication needs who require AAC. We believe that AAC interventions offer tremendous potential to enhance communication and language skills of young children, but we also believe that this potential has not yet been fully realized. In this paper, we summarize the research related to AAC technologies for young children who have complex communication needs. We then propose some exciting new directions for future research to improve AAC technologies and interventions for young children with complex communication needs. It is our hope that this paper will encourage future research so that, as a field, we can better meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who require AAC and ensure that they truly experience the full power and the magic of communication!
AAC Technologies to Enhance Participation and Access to Meaningful Societal Roles for Adolescents and Adults with Developmental Disabilities who Require AAC
David McNaughton and Diane Bryen (USA)
Individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and their families, have new expectations for life after high school. In the past two decades, effective use of AAC technology has supported desired outcomes for individuals who use AAC in college and university settings, employment, and independent living. At the same time, we know that many individuals with developmental disabilities who require AAC lack appropriate communication systems and supports. Their communication challenges severely restrict their participation in traditional adult roles as students, workers, friends, partners, citizens, and parents.
In this paper, we review the existing literature on the experiences of adolescents and adults who use AAC as they have participated in postsecondary education, the workplace, and community living activities. We also propose an agenda of future research and development for AAC technology to better support individuals who use AAC in assuming important societal roles in the adult world.
Individuals who use AAC expect to be full participants in our society. Increased attention to the need for AAC technology that can support participation in face-to-face and distance communication, that assists in providing training and support for system use, that includes adapted applications and cognitive tools, and that can be independently operated and maintained, can play a key role in empowering individuals who use AAC to participate in meaningful societal roles.
AAC for Adults with Acquired Neurological Conditions
David Beukelman, Susan Fager, Laura Ball, and Aimee Dietz (USA)
Recent advances in AAC for six groups of people with degenerative and chronic acquired neurological conditions are detailed. AAC technological advances, acceptance, use, limitations, and future needs of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), brainstem impairment, severe, chronic aphasia and apraxia of speech, primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and dementia are discussed. This review
documents the increased use of AAC by persons with neurological conditions as compared to data collected in the 1990s. This pattern is particularly strong for persons with ALS, TBI, and brainstem impairment. AAC use by persons with aphasia and dementia is gradually increasing, as new low and high technology strategies are introduced for these individuals. Of course, much needs to be done to reduce the cognitive/linguistic load for these adults with complex communication needs, to reduce the learning demands on AAC facilitators, and to enhance use in less that optimal communication conditions.
Access to AAC: Present, Past, and Future
Jeff Higginbotham, Howard Shane, and Susanne Russell (USA)
As we move forward into the new century, significant scientific and technical progress in AAC make it necessary to reconceptualize what AAC access means. This article presents a new framework for thinking about access in augmentative communication, reviews several new technological developments in this area, then discusses some of the current challenges that confront the AAC community and what we must do to eliminate communication access barriers for individuals with complex communication needs.
Enhancing AAC Connections With the world
Frank Deruyter, David McNaughton, Kevin Caves, Diane Bryen, and
Michael Williiams (USA)
The rapid development of the internet and other wireless technologies has created new opportunities for inter-personal communication and for accessing information. New devices make it easy to send text messages using cell phone technology, to obtain driving instructions using global positioning systems, or to browse the internet using laptop computers and a Wi-Fi connection.
Significant barriers, however, have prevented many individuals who use AAC from accessing this technology and from participating fully in today’s “Information Society.” For the individual who uses AAC, easy access to a computer is even more important than for individuals without a disability, as computer access often provides the only way to perform desired activities. Full access to cell phone technology, email, web browsers, e-commerce, and e-books are all activities that require digital independence. These are fundamental communication activities in the 21st century, and are necessary for full participation in schools, the workplace, and community living.
Abascal and Nicolle (2005) have observed that “Technology does not evolve by itself towards the production of more accessible computers. It is necessary that social and political factors gain influence over this process” (p.484). In this paper we discuss suggested roles and activities for six key stakeholder groups a) individuals who use AAC, b) individuals who assist in selecting and supporting use of AAC devices, c) AAC researchers, d) AAC device manufacturers, e) mainstream application developers and technology manufacturers, and f) public policy makers. The goal is that “the AAC device becomes the digital curb cut to other more mainstream technologies” (Williams, 2005), and that individuals who use AAC enjoy complete access to a full range of digital technologies and applications.