Design and development of augmentative and alternative digital home control interface

This paper describes a Digital Home Interface capable of adapting layouts, styles and contents to device capability, user preferences and appliances’ features; designed with a combination of web technologies, standard languages for abstract interface definition and AAC systems. The Home Automation architecture is characterized by devices’ independence, combining eXtensible Markup Language and Cascading Style Sheet, web technologies standard languages for abstract interface definition and two basic Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems with a Java based platform. This paper includes the result of a preliminary experiment, conducted with 4 users with cerebral palsy that are daily users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems in October 2011Peer Reviewe

Modelling Volo, an Augmentative and Alternative Communication application

In this paper, we present a formal representation of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) application, called Volo, for users with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We discuss existing AAC applications and present a formal visualisation model of Volo based on zz-structures, hyper-orthogonal, non-hierarchical structures for storing, linking and manipulating data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that tries to give a formal model to AAC techniques. We finally present the prototype of this new Volo application

Augmentative and alternative communication for children with autism spectrum disorder: an evidence-based evaluation of the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) programme

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often have restricted verbal communication. For children who do not use functional speech, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices can be an important support. We evaluated the effectiveness of one AAC programme, the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) using a Vantage Lite™ device as the speech output in the home and school environments. Eight children with limited communication were assessed by a speech pathologist prior to the introduction of the programme, after five weeks of training and again after a further two weeks of use of the programme, but without the supported training. The pre-/post-assessment measures revealed that all eight children made gains in the development of spontaneous communication using the device during the implementation period. Parents and teachers also reported that the gains achieved during the five-week trial were greater than those achieved in previous interventions. Two years after the completion of the study, a follow-up phone interview was completed which identified that children who received ongoing support from a LAMP-trained speech pathologist continued using the LAMP programme. As a result of this study, a specialised LAMP specific classroom was established in one of the participating schools

A brief review: assistive technology and autism, a proposal for virtual tools for improved communication and emotional recognition

Autism is a condition that affects over one percent of the population, and is a condition that has varying degrees of severity. There currently exist various therapies to help people with autism communicate effectively. As a result some researchers and schools have expanded this provision by creating virtual tools to assist the communication process and allow a greater level of independence and generalization. Therefore, this brief paper aims to present a review of literature surrounding assistive technology, augmentative and alternative communication and autism, and how these fields of knowledge can be better understood to help develop virtual tools – more specifically a virtual world

Factors related to the rejection and/or abandonment of AAC devices

More than 3.5 million Americans have such significant communication disability that they cannot rely on their natural speech to meet their communication needs. As a result, these individuals are severely restricted in their participation in all aspects of life, including their education, employment, family, and community. Augmentative and alternative communication strategies offer great potential to enhance the communication of individuals with complex communication needs, and therefore improve their quality of life. Fifty-two ISAAC members that responded to the online survey utilized a 5 point Likert-type scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree) to rate the importance of factors as they relate to the rejection and/or abandonment. The mean values of ratings were calculated to determine which factors were cited as relevant in predicting AAC device rejection and abandonment. Additionally, an independent T-test was utilized to determine if the factors cited varied depending on the role of the person completing the survey. The results of this investigation indicate that it is imperative to consider a complex interaction of factors pertaining to the individuals who use AAC, their conversational partners, settings in which interactions occur, and devices used to interact, when designing an AAC intervention. The statistical analysis revealed no significance difference in how the respondents rated the factors based on their occupation. Based on the results of the study, a checklist of factors that an AAC practitioner might consider addressing in order to foster acceptance of AAC systems initially and later on was constructed

Systematic Review: Comparative Efficacy of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to Other Augmentative Communication Systems in Increasing Social Communication Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose: This systematic review aims to compare the efficacy of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to other forms of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in increasing social communication skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Methods: A systematic review of the literature on PECS and other forms of AAC written between 2007 and 2018 was conducted. Studies were selected based on the established inclusionary and exclusionary criteria. The inclusionary criteria incorporated subjects with a formal diagnosis of ASD under the age of 18. Exclusionary criteria included individuals with severe sensory, motor, and/or other medical conditions that may have affected their use of PECS. 25 articles of varying study designs were critically appraised for validity and reliability to minimize bias. Results: Results suggest that both PECS and other forms of AAC are conducive to improving social communication in children (\u3c18 \u3eyears) with ASD. Advancements in conversation initiation, requesting behaviors and joint attention were noted, resulting in a global increase in communication interactions. However, studies demonstrated mixed results with specific consideration of rate of acquisition, modality preference, and overall effectiveness of the system. Conclusion: Synthesis of results from the 25 studies suggest that both PECS and other AAC systems show favorable outcomes for encouraging social-communicative behavior. The clinical implications of these results suggest the implementation of an AAC system may be client dependent. Single design designs were included in this review due to the lack of research in the areas of ASD and AAC. Further research of this comparison should be conducted on larger populations of children with ASD to improve clinical decision making to target social communication and increase generalizability.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/csdms/1000/thumbnail.jp

Ambiguous keyboards for AAC

Purpose – “Ambiguous keyboards” and “disambiguation processes” are becoming universally recognised through the popularisation of “predictive text messaging” on mobile phones. As this paper shows, although originating in the AT and AAC fields, these terms and techniques no longer appear to be widely understood or adopted by practitioners or users. The purpose of this paper is to introduce these techniques, discussing the research and theory around them, and to suggest them as AT and AAC strategies to be considered by practitioners and users. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that describes the use of ambiguous keyboards and disambiguation. The hypothesis of the paper is that ambiguous keyboards and disambiguation processes offer potential to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of AAC and should thus be considered further in research and practice. Findings – The two broad methods for removing the ambiguity from the output of an ambiguous keyboard are presented. A summary of the literature around the use of disambiguation processes provided and the use of disambiguation processes for AAC discussed. Originality/value – This paper suggests that ambiguity should be adopted as a characteristic of an AAC keyboard as should the method of removing ambiguity – namely either coding or a disambiguation process

A single case study of a family-centred intervention with a young girl with cerebral palsy who is a multimodal communicator

Background - This paper describes the impact of a family-centred intervention that used video to enhance communication in a young girl with cerebral palsy. This single case study describes how the video-based intervention worked in the context of multimodal communication, which included high-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device use. This paper includes the family's perspective of the video intervention and they describe the impact of it on their family. Methods - This single case study was based on the premise that the video interaction guidance intervention would increase attentiveness between participants during communication. It tests a hypothesis that eye gaze is a fundamental prerequisite for all communicative initiatives, regardless of modality in the child. Multimodality is described as the range of communicative behaviours used by the child and these are coded as AAC communication, vocalizations (intelligible and unintelligible), sign communication, nodding and pointing. Change was analysed over time with multiple testing both pre and post intervention. Data were analysed within INTERACT, a computer software to analyse behaviourally observed data. Behaviours were analysed for frequency and duration, contingency and co-occurrence. Results - Results indicated increased duration of mother's and girl's eye gaze, increased frequency and duration in AAC communication by the girl and significant change in frequency [χ2 (5, n = 1) = 13.25, P < 0.05] and duration [χ2 (5, n = 1) = 12.57, P < 0.05] of the girl's multimodal communicative behaviours. Contingency and co-occurrence analysis indicated that mother's eye gaze followed by AAC communication was the most prominent change between the pre- and post-intervention assessments. Conclusions - There was a trend for increased eye gaze in both mum and girl and AAC communication in the girl following the video intervention. The family's perspective concurs with the results

Modelling Volo, an Augmentative and Alternative Communication application.

In this paper, we present a formal representation of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) application, called Volo, for users with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We discuss existing AAC applications and present a formal visualisation model of Volo based on zz-structures, hyper-orthogonal, non-hierarchical structures for storing, linking and manipulating data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that tries to give a formal model to AAC techniques. We finally present the prototype of this new Volo application