Special education teachers have students in their classrooms with a variety of needs, and it is their responsibility to meet these needs for all students. Research shows special education teachers oftentimes enter the field with limited knowledge and skills to serve students with complex communication needs. The lack of background in augmentative…

In-service general education teachers receive limited pre-service training in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems and strategies. Therefore, pre-service training should expose general education teacher candidates to the field of AAC and its benefits. This study investigated the efficacy of an online professional development…

The educational inclusion of deaf students in England is usually interpreted as placement in mainstream settings alongside hearing students, creating unintended pressure for assimilation to the communicative needs of hearing people. In this context, it is deaf students and their communication support staff who are left to deal with communicative…

A qualitative study was conducted to identify the beliefs and attitudes of preservice special education teachers regarding teaching use of tangible symbols for students with multiple disabilities. Using tangible symbols is a promising practice with an emerging evidence base that supports communication development for students with complex…

The literature has emphasized the positive impact of mobile technologies with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) apps for enhancing the functional communication skills of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although various AAC apps are available, the system design of such apps presents assorted challenges, particularly…

This research explored the transformative potential of technology in special education, informed by the researcher's extensive experience in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Highlighting the case of a nonspeaking student with autism who made significant academic progress using an augmented alternate communication (AAC), device, the study…

Mateo was like many students, neither fluent in English nor in American Sign Language (ASL) and significantly delayed in literacy skills. At Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), he was provided with emerging signers services to develop his expressive and receptive ASL skills. He was also provided with speech and language services by a…

When we consider disability and the curriculum, we usually mean preparing professionals to work with people with disabilities or including students with disabilities. Here, I provide a personal description of these ideas colliding. It's Fall 2017, and I'm taking a course on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). That means it's about…

Purpose: This scoping study sought to establish a baseline for how well the needs of children with cortical visual impairment (CVI) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are currently aligned with the services available to them. CVI is the most common cause of visual impairment in children today, and AAC methods rely heavily on…

In this investigation, we surveyed 51 faculty members who were involved in teacher preparation programs in the area of extensive support needs (ESN) across a range of institutions of higher education. We asked participants to respond to questions related to the quality and quantity of program content focused on communication instruction and…

The purpose of this study was to identify areas in which educational leadership could aid in preparing general education teachers to educate children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A needs assessment was conducted through a case study in a rural Missouri school district to identify the level of efficacy noted by teachers of various…