TalkingTiles: Supporting Personalization and Customization in an AAC App for Individuals with Aphasia

This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in the Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Interactive Tabletops & Surfaces on the ACM Digital Library http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2817721.2817723The development of ‘Post-PC’ interactive surfaces, such as smartphones and tablets, and specialized support software informed by HCI research has created new opportunities for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) tech- nologies. However, it is unclear to what degree these opportunities have been realized in practice. We conducted a field study to explore the use of one such application, TalkingTiles, by individuals with aphasia. Following a training session and one week of use, we conducted interviews with participants, their partners, and their caregivers at a local support facility. We found that TalkingTiles can be effective in supporting communication when used in concert with other communication methods, and when time can be invested in customizing the app. We discuss our findings, and implications for design with respect to customizability, simplicity, and the limitations of interactive surfaces in supporting communication

Future directions for ICT in aphasia therapy for older adults: enhancing current practices through interdisciplinary perspectives

Growing numbers of older adults requiring aphasia therapy create challenges for the health care system. Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to provide computer-mediated, self-administered aphasia therapy that complements conventional therapy. We explore overlaps in ICT for older adults and aphasia therapy applications with the goal of integrating innovative ICT in aphasia therapy. Based on a case study, we explain how results of different disciplines developing ICT for older adults can be transferred in order to better support older adults with aphasia. We conclude with future directions for ICT in aphasia therapy by surveying interdisciplinary approaches that integrate best practices from conventional therapy, interface design, tracking technologies, user modelling, adaptation algorithms, playful design, user empowerment, and community interaction

Universal Design and Communication Rights: Meeting the Challenge of Linguistic and Communicative Diversity

This essay discusses Universal Design (UD) with respect to language and communication rights. Because Universal Design approaches aim at meeting human variability from the get-go, they must be able to address linguistic and communicative variability. Variability must individual variation in language functions and communication activities in the absence of disability and variability when speech, language or communicative disorders are present. Current conceptualizations of speech, language and communication disabilities take a person-centered approach and a bio-psycho-social framework of health and disease (WHO-ICF) that encompass three ontological domains: body functions and structures, activities, and participation. The framework crucially lists environmental factors that interact with each domain. I illustrate how UD can successfully be integrated with an ICF framework in the domain of speech, language and communication impairments; I then propose that the ICF model can be extended beyond disability to non-clinical populations and settings, to meet the communication rights for all

Co-designing smart home technology with people with dementia or Parkinson's disease

Involving users is crucial to designing technology successfully, especially for vulnerable users in health and social care, yet detailed descriptions and critical reflections on the co-design process, techniques and methods are rare. This paper introduces the PERCEPT (PERrsona-CEntred Participatory Technology) approach for the co-design process and we analyse and discuss the lessons learned for each step in this process. We applied PERCEPT in a project to develop a smart home toolset that will allow a person living with early stage dementia or Parkinson's to plan, monitor and self-manage his or her life and well-being more effectively. We present a set of personas which were co-created with people and applied throughout the project in the co-design process. The approach presented in this paper will enable researchers and designers to better engage with target user groups in co-design and point to considerations to be made at each step for vulnerable users

The Evidence of Interdisciplinary Teamwork in the Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients with Aphasia

The aim of this review was to investigate the evidence of interdisciplinary teamwork in the rehabilitation of stroke patients with aphasia. A total of 248 studies were read and nine included. The papers were analysed and data were extracted by categorizing the four components of rehabilitation: assessment, goal setting, intervention and reassessment.The results revealed that interdisciplinary teamwork was a prerequisite for rehabilitation and that nurses’ position in post-stroke care was unclear and limited. In addition, rehabilitation strategies, interdisciplinary cooperation, education and training are important aspects of the rehabilitation process. This study highlights the need for one valid and reliable assessment tool that incorporates Communication problems. In conclusion, persons with aphasia should be more involved in their own rehabilitation, which means that the interdisciplinary team members must be educated to communicate appropriately with them

Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders [Program, 2019]

The Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders provides continuing education activities in speech- language pathology that are acceptable to the State of Iowa and the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Areas of emphasis include adults and pediatrics.https://scholarworks.uni.edu/iccdprograms/1010/thumbnail.jp

Proceedings of Therapeutic Strategies A Challenge for User Involvement in Design Workshop in conjunction with NORDICHI 2010 17. October 2010, Reykjavik, Iceland

&lt;html /&gt;</jats:p

An Arakawa and Gins experimental teaching space : a feasibility study

This essay discusses the benefits of Arakawa and Gins procedural architecture for the development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning environments. the discussion of how the body is engaged in knoelwdge acquisition leads to a feasibility study undertaken at an Australian University to determine how an experimental, sensory and perceptually-based learning space might be built given the T&amp;L priorties and the fiscal climate in which universitioes curently operat

Content validation of the JAAT: an aphasia assessment designed for Jordanian-Arabic speaking population

Aphasia has significant consequences on communication in activities of daily living and comprehensive aphasia assessments are an important clinical tool for gathering diagnostic and treatment information. A comprehensive aphasia assessment is still the most used tool utilized when the aim is to collect as much clinically useful information as possible using one single test. Despite the availability of several major comprehensive aphasia tests for the English-speaking population, there are only a few comprehensive tests that have been developed for the majority of the world’s popular languages including Arabic (Ivanova &amp; Hallowell, 2013). Clinicians in Jordan are challenged by the lack of availability of a formal aphasia test for people with aphasia (PWA) speaking a Jordanian dialect of Arabic. The aim of this study was to examine the content validity of a newly developed Jordanian-Arabic Aphasia Test (JAAT) by formulating an experimental process of content validation. The study consisted of three experiments: the first experiment aims to validate the visual stimuli used in the JAAT; the second to identify troublesome in need of modification; and the third is an examination of content validity of the JAAT. The JAAT consists of 12 subtests divided into four parts with a total of 112 items that assess verbal fluency, auditory comprehension, repetition, and naming. For the first experiment, 164 non-brain damaged (NBD) Jordanian-Arabic speakers distributed by age, sex, and level of education were asked to match 132 pictures with target words to determine whether the images accurately represent the words they were drawn to depict. In the second experiment the JAAT was administered to 20 NBD Jordanian Arabic speakers who were 60 years of age or more to identify item outliers that are less than ideal for use with PWA. As for the third experiment and the focus of this study, 21 subject matter experts (SME) in the field of speech-language pathology were asked to rate the JAAT using an online questionnaire. The content of the JAAT was appraised using three parameters—clinical applicability, linguistic relevance, and cultural sensitivity. Furthermore, a Content Validity Index (CVI) with a criterion set for 80% was used based on ratings of 7 or 6 indicating response choices of strongly agree and agree respectively on the online questionnaire. Results of the first experiment demonstrated that the majority of the items in the JAAT were validated by NBD Jordanian Arabic speakers and found to accurately represent the target words. In the second experiment, as expected, senior Jordanian-Arabic speakers performed correctly on most items of the JAAT; with 8 items shown to be difficult for more than one-fourth of examinees. These items were modified before being readmitted in the JAAT for content validation. Results of the third experiment showed that the SMEs rated the JAAT’s clinical applicability, linguistic relevance, and cultural sensitivity positively with significant CVI values. Two subtests in the JAAT were found to require further modifications and the test’s capacity to identify other disorders was found to be lacking. Additionally, the JAAT needs to go through some modification to improve its potential to identify severity levels of PWA. The results of this study signal the importance of implementing a scheme of content validation and item development process that paves the way for better test construction practices