Books reviews

An evaluation of the deinstitutionalization of persons with developmental disabilities in Norway. Tor Jenssen Thesis, University of Oslo, 1996. Når omsorgen oppleves krenkede (When Care is experienced as a Violation). Britt Lillest? Thesis, University of Troms?, 1997

A trained communication partner's use of responsive strategies in aided communication with three adults with Rett syndrome : A case report

Purpose: To explore and describe a trained communication partnerâ\u80\u99s use of responsive strategies in dyadic interaction with adults with Rett syndrome. Introduction: Responsive partner strategies facilitate social, communicative, and linguistic development. The common feature is that the communication partner responds contingently to the otherâ\u80\u99s focus of attention and interprets their acts as communicative. Research on responsive partner strategies that involves individuals with significant communication and motor disabilities remains sparse. The same applies to if, and how, the use of communication aids impacts on the partnerâ\u80\u99s use of responsive strategies. Materials and methods: A therapist, trained in responsive partner strategies and aided communication interacted during 14 sessions with each of three participants. The participants were adults with Rett syndrome. A gaze-controlled device and responsive strategies were used during all sessions. The Responsive Augmentative and Alternative Communication Style scale (RAACS) was used to assess the partnerâ\u80\u99s responsiveness. RAACS consists of 11 items including ratings of to what extent the partner is being attentive to, confirms, and expands the individualâ\u80\u99s communication. During eight of the 14 sessions, aided AAC Modelling was also used, i.e., the communication partner pointed at symbols on the gaze-controlled device while interacting. In addition to RAACS, each time the communication partner confirmed or expanded on communication when (a) the participants used the gaze-controlled device and (b) the participants did not use the gaze-controlled device was counted. Descriptive statistics were used to present the results. Non-parametric tests were used to compare means between the two conditions and between participants. Results: Inter-rater agreement for the different RAACS items ranged from 0.73 to 0.96 and was thus found to be fair to excellent. The communication partnerâ\u80\u99s use of responsive strategies varied when communicating with different participants and the scores were higher when aided AAC modeling was used. The communication partnerâ\u80\u99s number of responses and use of responsive strategies were higher when the participants communicated through a gaze-controlled device. Conclusion: The communication partnerâ\u80\u99s use of responsive and scaffolding strategies is not a fixed construct but varies in interactions with different non-speaking persons. The same is true whether the non-speaking person uses a gaze-controlled device with digitized speech or not.De två sista författarna delar sistaförfattarskapet.</p

Development of a tool to assess visual attention in Rett syndrome : a pilot study

This was a two-phase study that aimed to (a) develop a tool for assessing visual attention in individuals with Rett syndrome using AAC with a communication partner during naturalistic interactions in clinical settings; and (b) explore aspects of the tool's reliability, validity, and utility. The Assessment of Visual Attention in Interaction (AVAI) tool was developed to assess visual attention operationalized as focused gazes (1 s or longer) at the communication partner, an object, and a symbol set. For the study, six video-recorded interactions with nine female participants diagnosed with Rett syndrome (range: 15-52-years-old) were used to calculate intra- and inter-rater agreement, and 18 recorded interactions were analyzed to examine sensitivity to change and acceptability. There was a significant difference in the AVAI results between two conditions (with and without aided-language modeling). Inter-rater agreement ranged from moderate and strong. There was a range in scores, indicating that the AVAI could differentiate between participants. The AVAI was found to be reliable, able to detect change, and acceptable to the participants. This tool could potentially be used for evaluating interventions that utilize aided AAC