Communicating the unknown: descriptions of pictured scenes and events presented on video by children and adolescents using aided communication and their peers using natural speech.

The facility to describe scenes and events is important in everyday communication, but little is known about the description skills and strategies of young people using aided communication. This article explores how 81 children and adolescents using aided communication and 56 peers using natural speech, aged 5-15 years, described pictured scenes and events presented on video to a partner who had no prior knowledge of the content. The group who used aided communication took longer and included fewer elements in their descriptions than the reference group; however, the groups did not differ in their use of irrelevant or incorrect elements, suggesting that both groups stayed on topic. Measures related to aided message efficiency correlated significantly with measures of spoken language comprehension. There were no significant differences between groups for their descriptions of pictured scenes and video events. Analyses showed both unpredicted group similarities and predictable differences, suggesting key components for future research consideration

Habilidades expressivas de um grupo de alunos com paralisia cerebral na atividade de jogo Expressive abilities of a group of students with cerebral palsy during game activities

OBJETIVO: Analisar as habilidades expressivas de um grupo de alunos com paralisia cerebral sem oralidade durante atividades de jogos. MÉTODOS: Participaram deste estudo três alunos com paralisia cerebral, do sexo masculino, com idades entre 13 e 16 anos, com severos distúrbios na comunicação oral, sem déficits visual, auditivo e cognitivo. Os alunos frequentavam classe especial e eram usuários de recursos de comunicação alternativa. Foi filmada a interação do grupo de alunos durante a realização de seis jogos adaptados. A partir das transcrições das fitas, foi possível definir oito categorias referentes às habilidades expressivas do grupo. RESULTADOS: Os resultados demonstraram que o grupo de alunos utilizou as expressões: verbal sem ajuda/vocal; verbal com ajuda/não-vocal; não-verbal/vocal; não-verbal/não-vocal; não-verbal/não-vocal + não-verbal/vocal; verbal sem ajuda/vocal + não-verbal/vocal; não-verbal/vocal + verbal com ajuda/não-vocal e não-verbal/não-vocal + verbal com ajuda/não-vocal para se comunicar, sendo que as categorias mais utilizadas foram não-verbal/não-vocal; verbal com ajuda/não-vocal e não-verbal/não-vocal + não-verbal/vocal. CONCLUSÕES: Os jogos propiciaram ao grupo de alunos com paralisia cerebral sem oralidade o uso das diferentes habilidades expressivas, como, por exemplo, uso de gestos representativos, expressões corporais e faciais, vocalizações, fala articulada, uso de pastas e pranchas de comunicação suplementar e alternativa, assim como as combinações destas habilidades. Os gestos representativos e as expressões corporais e faciais foram as habilidades mais utilizadas pelo grupo de alunos com paralisia cerebral sem oralidade, razão pela qual os profissionais devem estar atentos a estas possibilidades expressivas.<br>PURPOSE: To analyze the expressive abilities of a group of nonspeaking students with cerebral palsy during game activities. METHODS: Three male students with cerebral palsy, with ages varying from 13 to 16 years, participated in this study. These students presented severe oral communication disability, without any visual, hearing or cognitive deficits. The students attended a special classroom and used alternative communication resources. An interaction situation among the group during six adapted games was filmed. From the transcriptions of the interaction, it was possible to define eight expressive abilities categories of the group. RESULTS: Data showed that the group of students used the following categories of expression to communicate: verbal without help/vocal; verbal with help/nonvocal; nonverbal/vocal; nonverbal/nonvocal + nonverbal/vocal; verbal without help/vocal + nonverbal/vocal; nonverbal/vocal + verbal with help/nonvocal; nd nonverbal/nonvocal + verbal with help/nonvocal. The most frequent categories were nonverbal/nonvocal; verbal with help/nonvocal and nonverbal/nonvocal + nonverbal/vocal. CONCLUSIONS: The games favored the use the different expressive abilities by the group of nonspeaking students with cerebral palsy, as, for example, with the use of representative gestures, facial and corporal expressions, vocalizations, articulate speech, and the use of augmentative and alternative communication board, as well as with the combinations of these abilities. Representative gestures and the facial and corporal expressions were the most frequent abilities used by the group, and therefore professionals should be aware of these expressive possibilities