| Apology Due to a glitch in communications between myself and the AAC Production Manager, Jeff Higginbotham’s Guest Editorial failed to appear in the September issue of AAC. As Editor, I take full responsibility for this failure and apologize most sincerely to Jeff and the readership. The Guest Editorial follows. JohnTodman (Editor AAC) Special Issue: State of the Science in AAC Guest Editorial D. Jeffery Higginbotham State University of New York at Buffalo I would like to welcome readers to this special issue of AAC entitled, “State of the Science in AAC,” which is authored by members of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC). The AAC-RERC is one of 17 centers of excellence funded by National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research[1] (NIDRR), each of which focuses on a specific area of disability, including workplace accommodations, telecommunications, wheelchair transportation, and rehabilitation robotics (NATAP, 2007). The AAC-RERC mission is to “assist people who rely on augmentative and alternative communication to achieve their goals by advancing and promoting AAC technologies and supporting the individuals who use, manufacture, and recommend them. (AAC-RERC, 2007)”. As part of its mission, the AAC-RERC conducts a comprehensive program of research, development, training, and dissemination activities that addresses the NIDRR priorities and seeks to improve technologies for individuals who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies. Among the responsibilities mandated to AAC-RERC by NIDRR was to conduct a state-of-the-science conference on AAC research in the third year of its grant cycle, and to publish a report on the outcomes of the conference during the fourth year of the grant. In March, 2006 the State of the Science Conference in Augmentative Communication was held in conjunction with CSUN’s conference on Disability Technology. Members of the AAC-RERC gave presentations in six areas: (1) principles guiding AAC research (2) AAC technologies for young children, (3) AAC technologies and societal roles, (4) AAC and acquired neurological conditions, (5) AAC access issues, and (6) connecting individuals who use AAC to the world. The conference was attended by representatives from research, clinical, education, manufacturing, engineering, and consumer communities, who met with the AAC-RERC membership after each presentation to discuss current research issues and provide suggestions for new research priorities. The presenters used this feedback to revise their papers and produce the articles included this issue. Although they differ in style and scope, each of the articles in this issue assesses recent research and technology development, and, in some cases, public policy related to the topic area. Frequently, the authors introduce new conceptual frameworks to promote greater understanding and research in a given area. Recommendations are provided to help direct future research. It has been my utmost pleasure to serve as editor for this special issue on the State of the Science in AAC. I want to thank each of the authors for their scholarship, creativity, and timeliness in writing these manuscripts. I would also like to recognize the efforts of Theresa Welch, Ph.D., who made the editorial process work smoothly during the initial phase of publication preparation.
References AAC-RERC About - Mission and Objectives. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from http://aac-rerc.org/pages/about/about.htm. NATAP (2007). Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) - National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance Partnership (NATTAP). Retrieved June 8, 2007, from http://www.resna.org/taproject/at/rercs.html. |
