Impact of AAC interventions on participation outcomes in children with complex communication needs : a scoping review

Participation or taking part in life situations, is a fundamental human right. Participation is a complex and multidimensional construct. The importance of participation on health, education, and well-being for children and youth with disabilities have extensively been indicated by literature. Being able to communicate is an essential component of full participation in various life situations such as at school, with peers and in the community. Communication provides a means to participate and specially to participate socially. Complex communication needs usually limit the opportunities of children or youth with disabilities to have social interaction with peers. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) interventions aim to facilitate communication competency and effectiveness to increase social interaction and independence. Importantly, participation in all aspects of life – which is considered the ultimate goal of AAC intervention – is a complex and multifaceted construct. Evidence suggests that there is little research on participation-related intervention outcomes for children who use AAC. The purpose of the current study was to use the family of Participation and Related Constructs (fPRC) framework to review and describe the reported outcomes of AAC intervention for children and youth with complex communication needs. The scoping review identified a total of 270 studies for inclusion and the data was extracted and mapped onto the fPRC. The results indicate that although many studies report on participation-related constructs such as activity competence and context, there is still a paucity of focus on the constructs of attendance and involvement, sense of self and environment-related constructs. The study therefore highlights the need for future research on these constructs. Participation should be the primary focus of intervention and the long-term wellbeing of children and youth using AAC should be enhanced by developing comprehensive participatory goals in collaboration with all stakeholders.Mini Dissertation (MAAC)--University of Pretoria, 2021.Humanities EducationMAACUnrestricte

Tech for Understanding: An Introduction to Assistive and Instructional Technology in the Classroom

This paper examines the different types of assistive and instructional technology available to students who are classified with one or more of the thirteen disabilities outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (referred to as, IDEA). While the roles of assistive and instructional technology are different, there are many instances where their uses may overlap. Thus, while these two categories will be discussed separately, it should be noted that some information may be applied to each category and more than one piece of technology. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the world of assistive and instructional technology for those who may be new to its concepts, particularly parents who have recently learned that their child may benefit from extra assistance and future educators who are interested in learning more about the devices they will be using to reach their students. Each of the thirteen disabilities will be discussed briefly, and then each disability will be assigned several types of assistive and instructional technology that serve it well. This will by no means be an exhaustive list of all types of technology available to teachers, parents, and students. However, it will attempt to provide a varied glimpse at some of the options that are available and how they may help children who are struggling to access the curriculum

Assistive Technology to Improve Collaboration in Children with ASD: State-of-the-Art and Future Challenges in the Smart Products Sector

Within the field of products for autism spectrum disorder, one of the main research areas is focused on the development of assistive technology. Mid and high-tech products integrate interactive and smart functions with multisensory reinforcements, making the user experience more intuitive, adaptable, and dynamic. These products have a very significant impact on improving the skills of children with autism, including collaboration and social skills, which are essential for the integration of these children into society and, therefore, their well-being. This work carried out an exhaustive analysis of the scientific literature, as well as market research and trends, and patent analysis to explore the state-of-the-art of assistive technology and smart products for children with ASD, specifically those aimed at improving social and communication skills. The results show a reduced availability of products that act as facilitators of the special needs of children with ASD, which is even more evident for products aimed at improving collaboration skills. Products that allow the participation of several users simultaneously through multi-user interfaces are required. On top of this, the trend toward virtual environments is leading to a loss of material aspects in the design that are essential for the development of these children

Communication of Children with Autism in a Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment

AbstractThis paper presents the results of a study on the communication of four children with autis m in a learning environment with multiple technologies. The main focus of the study was on the amount and forms of the children's expressions produced by voice while working at three technology-based workstations: building with bricks, symbol matching, and storytelling. The results indicate that the number of the children's vocal expressions was high, they used multiple ways in communicating despite challenges in language development, and each child had a different kind of communication profile. The results of the study are considered in respect to the variety of the communication and interaction of children with autism, and the aspects to be taken into account in a technology-enhanced learning environment to support the communication of children with autism

Um mapeamento sistemático sobre o uso da comunicação aumentativa alternativa apoiada por recursos tecnológicos

O estabelecimento da comunicação frequentemente é um problema para pessoas com deficiência intelectual. Neste sentido, a Comunicação Aumentativa e Alternativa (CAA) pode ser utilizada para apoiar a realização de um diálogo entre essas pessoas. A CAA se caracteriza por utilizar simultaneamente mais de um canal para realizar a comunicação, sendo os canais sem tecnologia, com baixa ou alta tecnologia. Neste trabalho é realizado um mapeamento sistemático, conduzido nas bases acadêmicas Science Direct, ACM e IEEE, para identificar como a CAA está sendo utilizada em conjunto com dispositivos eletrônicos. O processo de busca retornou 185 trabalhos, no entanto, apenas 39 atenderam aos critérios de inclusão e exclusão aplicados no mapeamento. Nos trabalhos analisados foi identificado maior frequência do uso do tablet como dispositivo, do alto-falante como recurso de hardware, e da imagem como forma de comunicação. Embora os trabalhos objetivavam a comunicação e educação, apenas um deles utilizou a colaboração, os demais optaram por desenvolver suas atividades individualmente. Embora os trabalhos objetivavam a comunicação e educação, apenas um deles utilizou a colaboração, os demais optavam por desenvolver suas atividades individualmente

Student proposals for design projects to aid children with severe disabilities

Citation: Warren, S. (2016). Student proposals for design projects to aid children with severe disabilities.Children with severe disabilities have unique individual needs. Technology-based designs intended to quantify the well-being of these children or assist them with learning or activities of daily living are often by nature "one of" designs tightly matched to these needs. For children with severe autism, such designs must be incorporated into their environments in unobtrusive ways to avoid upsetting or distracting these children. This design space and its affiliated challenges offer a rich environment for engineering students to exercise their design creativity. This paper presents an end-of-semester exercise for a Kansas State University Introduction to Biomedical Engineering class, where students propose senior-design projects geared toward children with severe disabilities. The goal of the exercise is to integrate concepts related to biomedical devices, design factors, care delivery environments, and assistive technology into a proposed design with clear practical benefit that can be implemented in prototype form by a senior design team over the span of about two semesters. The deliverable for the design exercise is a four-page paper in two-column IEEE format that adheres to a pre-specified structure. To focus these design-project ideas, students are asked to offer their thoughts within the framework of needs specified by clinical staff at Heartspring in Wichita, KS, a facility that serves severely disabled children, where nearly all of the full-time residents are autistic, and most are nonverbal. In addition to the educational benefits offered by this experience, the author's intent is to help spur ideas for new senior design projects that can be supported with resources from existing NSF-funded grants which provide equipment and materials for such endeavors. Six semesters worth of design ideas are presented here, along with the results of assessment rubrics applied to the final papers. The class is populated by students from various departments within the Kansas State University College of Engineering, so design proposals are varied and incorporate low-level to system-level solutions. Some of these design ideas have been adopted by design teams, whereas others await attention. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016

Una revisión narrativa sobre las estrategias para la intervención de la comunicación en niños y niñas con alto riesgo de trastorno del espectro del autismo

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a collection of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction. Early markers can predict this disorder about 18 months of age and could be related with communication skills: low rates of interaction and communication acts, eye gaze and reciprocal vocalizations. Thus, a speech and language early intervention could be enhancing the communicative outcomes. This narrative review was conducted by the Prisma method, with the purpose to analyze what are the intervention strategies to enhance nonverbal communication skills in preschool children with High Risk of ASD. Three databases were reviewed (PubMed, Science Direct and ASHAWire) with the following MeSH terms: ASD, early intervention, nonverbal communication, preschool. Early intervention in nonverbal communication skills will be too important in the development of preschool children with ASD. The core strategies were augmentative and alternative communication, visual supports and technologies could improve forms (gestures, eye gaze, pictures and speech - generating devices) and communicative functions (obtain, social, refuse and shares information).Los Trastornos del Espectro del Autismo (TEA) son un conjunto de trastornos del neurodesarrollo caracterizados principalmente por dificultades en la comunicación e interacción social. Las manifestaciones tempranas suelen mostrarse alrededor de los dieciocho meses y estar vinculadas con la comunicación no verbal: baja interacción, atención y mirada dirigida a otras personas, limitado uso de gestos comunicativos y producción de vocalizaciones recíprocas. Es por ello que la atención fonoaudiológica temprana (AT) puede repercutir de forma positiva en el éxito comunicativo. Se realizó una revisión narrativa basada en el Prisma, para analizar cuáles son las estrategias de intervención para aumentar las habilidades de comunicación no verbal en niños preescolares con Alto Riesgo de TEA. Se revisaron tres bases de datos (PubMed, Science Direct y ASHAWire) y se condujo la búsqueda con cuatro términos MeSH: TEA, intervención temprana, comunicación no verbal y preescolares. Se resalta la importancia de la AT en las habilidades de comunicación no verbal, la utilización de estrategias basadas en el uso de Comunicación Aumentativa y Alternativa, apoyos visuales y tecnologías que incrementen de manera oportuna las formas (gestos, uso de la mirada, imágenes y generadores de voz) y funciones (obtención, social, rechazo y entrega de información) de la comunicación