Developing Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems in Languages Other Than English: A Scoping Review

Introduction: Access to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems in languages other than English and multilingual AAC systems remains limited for many people with complex communication needs, despite a growing interest in this field, and an acknowledged need for culturally responsive AAC practice. Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify published research that has reported on the development of components or whole AAC systems in languages other than English, and the linguistic and cultural factors that influenced research methods and AAC system development. Method: Nine databases were systematically searched for published research that presented development of components or whole AAC systems in languages other than English. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality of studies. Charted data from studies included journal and publication date, research team, language of AAC system, aims of the study, study methodologies, study participants, and type of AAC systems developed. An analytical framework was developed to identify the cultural and linguistic factors that influenced research methods and or AAC system outcomes. Results: A total of 22 studies were included (13 qualitative, one quantitative nonrandomized, six quantitative descriptive, and two mixed-methods studies). Overall quality of studies was high. Some qualitative studies were of lower quality due to limited analysis or interpretation of results. Linguistic factors were extensively reported in the existing literature, whereas cultural factors were rarely explicitly reported. Conclusion: Factors contributing to lack of reporting of cultural considerations are posited with suggestions for future research

‘They think I’m really cool and nice’: The impact of Internet support on the social networks and loneliness of young people with disabilities.

Published version made available in accordance with Publisher copyright agreement.Today, young people use the Internet for social networking, learning and recreation. Young people with disabilities have fewer friends and reduced social networks. The aim was to investigate the effectiveness of one-on-one training to increase the use of the Internet by young people with disabilities to enhance their social networks and reduce loneliness. Eighteen young people aged 10-18 years with cerebral palsy, physical disability or acquired brain injury completed a social networks inventory and level of loneliness measure. Participants received assistive technology and training at their home to learn to use the Internet for building social networks. Post intervention testing revealed that the number of online communication partners increased significantly; however, there was no difference in measured levels of loneliness. Future research with larger number of participants with disabilities needs to be followed up longitudinally including investigating the meaning and role of online social connections for this grou

The Association between Parental Educational Expectations and School Functioning among Young People with Disabilities:A Longitudinal Investigation

Past research has established clear educational inequities between young people with disabilities and their peers. In part, some of these inequities may be attributed to expectations. In this study, we examined whether parental expectations were related to school functioning at high school, with school functioning broadly defined as ease and frequency of engagement in school-based activities. Using the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children ( N = 3,956; 48.9% female; 5.01% with disability), we examined parental expectations and school functioning measured at three time-points, biennially from the ages of 12 and 13 through to 16 and 17. A multigroup, parallel latent growth curve analysis revealed that high parental expectations at the first timepoint predicted steeper increases in the trajectory of school functioning over time, but only among young people with disability. Parental expectations did not significantly predict school functioning trajectories for the remainder of the sample. Subsequent multigroup analyses that compared disability characteristics revealed that learning difficulties and speech problems, in particular, were associated with lower parental expectations. These results suggest that the perceptions of parents in the lives of young people with disability are important and efforts to shape them may have long-term benefits

The effects of enhancements on learning and using Blissymbols by normal three-year-old children

The purpose of the present investigation was to study the effects of enhancements on the learning, retention, transfer to the unlearned form, and the use of Blissymbols in forty normal three-year-old children. The subjects learned either 12 standard Blissymbols (SBS) or 12 enhanced Blissymbols (EBS) from List 1 or List 2. The symbols were introduced with short explanations and the number of trials taken to correctly identify 11 out of 12 symbols was noted. In the application phase, they listened to narratives and saw black and white drawings used to establish a communicative task which could be completed through use of a symbol. The number of symbols selected appropriately to complete the communicative act was noted. A week after the acquisition phase, they were tested to find the number of symbols that they could correctly identify. Following the retention task, the number of symbols that could be correctly identified in the untrained form of Blissymbols was determined. The results demonstrated that subjects learning the EBS reached criterion in fewer trials than the subjects learning the SBS and they correctly identified more EBS in the retention task than the SBS subjects. Both groups of subjects performed similarly on the application task, in which there was a large variability for both groups. Subjects who were trained on the SBS did not differ significantly in the number of correct identifications of the untrained EBS, whereas subjects trained on the EBS identified fewer SBS than EBS. The results indicated that normal three-year-olds probably benefit more from an illustration system such as EBS than an orthographic system such as SBS. The implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed

Enhancing social participation in young people with communication disabilities living in rural Australia outcomes of a home-based intervention for using social media /

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a home-basedintervention using social media to enhance social networks of young people with disabilitiesand communication difficulties. Method: Eight young people (Mage¼15.4 years) withcommunication disabilities participated from two rural Australian towns. The intervention provided assistive technology and training to learn social media use. A mixed-method design combined pre- and post-assessments measuring changes in performance, satisfaction with performance, attainment on social media goals, and social network extension, and interviews investigated the way in which the intervention influenced social participation. Results: Participants showed an increase in performance, and satisfaction with performance, on the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure; paired t-tests showed statistical significance at p50.01. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks revealed a significant increase in the number of online communication partners, p50.05. The interviews highlighted participants’ and parents’ perceptions of increased social connections, improved communication frequency and nature, and speech intelligibility and literacy as a result of the intervention. Conclusions: The findings suggest that learning to use social media leads to increase in social participation among rural based young people with communication disabilities. In order to benefit from advantages of learning to use social media in rural areas, parents and service providers need knowledge and skills to integrate assistive technology with the Internet needs of this group

Why aren’t you on Facebook? Patterns and experiences of using the Internet among young people with physical disabilities /

There has been an explosive growth in the use of the Internet as a social networking tool and as a major venue for leisure and recreation among children and young people. It is not known whether children with disabilities are using the new medium for similar purposes. The aim of this project was to investigate the current patterns and frequency of Internet use and its impact, facilitators and barriers to use by children and young people with physical disabilities. Fifteen participants with physical disabilities with a mean age of 14.6 years were interviewed exploring the above issues. The research found the young people who participated in this study used the Internet for a variety of purposes and friends played a key role in teaching them Internet skills as well as interacting with them online. Family resources and the computer/Internet literacy skills of parents were significant factors influencing usage. The findings suggest the need for further research involving a larger cohort of children and young people with varying abilities, especially those who are currently not using the Internet, and to identify the supports required to increase access and participation

“I like talking to people on the computer”: Outcomes of a home-based intervention to develop social media skills in youth with disabilities living in rural communities

Wood, DL ORCiD: 0000-0002-5018-2725Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of a home-based social media use intervention to enhance the social networks of rural youth with disabilities. Method: Participants were nine youth (mean age = 17.0 years) with disabilities from two rural Australian communities. The intervention consisted of providing appropriate assistive technology and social media training on individualised goals. Using mixed methods, quantitative (a single group pre-post) and qualitative (interviews with participants and their carers) measures were used to examine outcomes of training, individual experiences of the intervention, and changes to online social networks. Results: Participants increased their performance and satisfaction with performance on social media problem areas post-intervention; paired t-tests showed statistical significance at p <.001. There was also a significant increase in the number of online communication partners; Wilcoxon Signed Ranks showed statistical significance at p <.05. The interviews highlighted increased social participation, independence and improvements to literacy. Ongoing parental concerns regarding cyber safety and inappropriate online content were noted. Conclusions: The findings suggest that social media training is a feasible method for increasing social networks among rural-based youth with disabilities. To sustain ongoing benefits, parents need knowledge and training in integrating assistive technology and social media. © 2018 Elsevier Lt