Effects of Interaction Approaches and Added High-Tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication on Prelinguistic and Linguistic Communication from School-Age Beginning Communicators.

INTRODUCTION: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention research is rarely focused on school-age beginning communicators despite the urgent need to ensure individuals in this population have access to the fundamental human right of communication. METHOD: Four school-age children with multiple disabilities who were primarily prelinguistic communicators participated in the current study. The study used a single subject research design to explore the effects of two interaction approaches - a social routine approach and a directive approach - on prelinguistic communication, compared to independent play and to one another. This study then evaluated the added effects of high-tech AAC within the most effective interaction approach for each participant. RESULTS: All participants demonstrated prelinguistic communication indicating positive affect most frequently when interacting within a social routine. Furthermore, all participants increased linguistic communication while either maintaining or increasing prelinguistic communication when high-tech AAC was added to the social routine interaction. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Clinicians should consider building accessible, predictable, engaging, and age-respectful social routines into leisure contexts to promote prelinguistic communication from school-age beginning communicators. Clinicians should also provide access to linguistic communication through high-tech AAC while continuing to honor and promote prelinguistic communication.

Leveraging Communication Partner Speech to Automate Augmented Input for Children on the Autism Spectrum Who Are Minimally Verbal: Prototype Development and Preliminary Efficacy Investigation.

PURPOSE: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology innovation is urgently needed to improve outcomes for children on the autism spectrum who are minimally verbal. One potential technology innovation is applying artificial intelligence (AI) to automate strategies such as augmented input to increase language learning opportunities while mitigating communication partner time and learning barriers. Innovation in AAC research and design methodology is also needed to empirically explore this and other applications of AI to AAC. The purpose of this report was to describe (a) the development of an AAC prototype using a design methodology new to AAC research and (b) a preliminary investigation of the efficacy of this potential new AAC capability. METHOD: The prototype was developed using a Wizard-of-Oz prototyping approach that allows for initial exploration of a new technology capability without the time and effort required for full-scale development. The preliminary investigation with three children on the autism spectrum who were minimally verbal used an adapted alternating treatment design to compare the effects of a Wizard-of-Oz prototype that provided automated augmented input (i.e., pairing color photos with speech) to a standard topic display (i.e., a grid display with line drawings) on visual attention, linguistic participation, and (for one participant) word learning during a circle activity. RESULTS: Preliminary investigation results were variable, but overall participants increased visual attention and linguistic participation when using the prototype. CONCLUSIONS: Wizard-of-Oz prototyping could be a valuable approach to spur much needed innovation in AAC. Further research into efficacy, reliability, validity, and attitudes is required to more comprehensively evaluate the use of AI to automate augmented input in AAC.

A Scoping Review of Research Evaluating Physiological Information for Individuals With Developmental Disabilities: Augmentative and Alternative Communication Research Considerations.

PURPOSE: Today, an ever-increasing number of technological advancements are becoming mainstream. As the availability of technological innovations increases, so do opportunities for evaluating any benefits of those innovations in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) research for individuals with developmental disabilities. One innovation that has become mainstream is the use of noninvasive wearable technology to provide physiological information (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance). Such information could be valuable in AAC research, but more information about its potential feasibility and utility is needed. METHOD: A scoping review was conducted to review and report on existing research that has evaluated (a) physiological information as a communication intervention tool for individuals with developmental disabilities and (b) the relationship between physiological information from individuals with developmental disabilities and behavioral and/or environmental information in real time. RESULTS: Results revealed that, while little communication intervention research has been completed, descriptive research demonstrates that physiological information from individuals with developmental disabilities gathered using wearable technology corresponds meaningfully to observable environmental and behavioral events. CONCLUSIONS: Future AAC research incorporating wearable technology to gather physiological information is warranted. Such research could evaluate potential benefits such as preempting challenging behavior with communication opportunities, signaling readiness for language learning, indicating AAC feature preferences, and expanding methodological approaches.

Visual Attention to Cued Targets in Simulated Aided Augmentative and Alternative Communication Displays for Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Purpose Many aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems require the use of an external display that is represented via a visual modality. It is critical to evaluate and understand visual-perceptual processing in individuals with disabilities who could benefit from AAC. One way to evaluate how individuals process visual materials is through research-based automated eye-tracking technologies that obtain a fine-grained stream of data concerning gaze paths of visual attention. Method The current study examined how individuals with autism spectrum disorder (n = 13), Down syndrome (n = 13), intellectual and developmental disabilities (n = 9), or typical development (n = 20) responded to a spoken prompt to find a thumbnail-sized navigation key within a complex AAC display, including a main visual scene display (VSD) and a navigation bar of four thumbnail-sized VSDs. Stimuli were presented on a monitor containing automated eye-tracking research technology that recorded patterns of visual attention. Results Participants across groups spent more time fixating on a target thumbnail VSD navigation image after the presentation of the spoken cue to look at the target, compared to before the presentation of the spoken cue; they also spent more time looking at the target thumbnail VSD than the other thumbnail-sized VSDs in the navigation bar after the cue. Discussion Participants were able to locate the target thumbnail VSDs, even within the context of a visually complex AAC display. Implications for the design of AAC displays and for assessment of comprehension are discussed.