The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interface display and respondent group on listener attitudes toward and perceived communicative competence of persons with aphasia. The Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Persons scale and the Communicative Competence Scale was used to measure listener attitudes and communicative competence,…

Smartwatches may provide a natural, portable, and unobtrusive strategy by which to support directive-following for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A mentor can send visual supports (e.g., photographs, videos, text) "just-in-time" (JIT) to a learner's smartwatch. This may reduce the need for extraneous face-to-face…

The burgeoning role of technology in society has provided opportunities for the development of new means of communication for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This paper offers an organizational framework for describing traditional and emerging augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technology, and highlights how tools…

Purpose: The effects of animation on transparency, name agreement, and identification of graphic symbols for verbs and prepositions were evaluated in preschoolers of 3 age groups. Methods: A mixed-group design was used; in each age group, half of the children were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 orders of symbol formats. The 52 children were asked to…

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to determine the effects of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention on speech production in children with autism or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified. Method: A systematic review methodology was utilized to limit bias in searching, selecting, coding, and…

Requesting is often taught as an initial target during augmentative and alternative communication intervention in children with autism. Speech-generating devices are purported to have advantages over non-electronic systems due to their synthetic speech output. On the other hand, it has been argued that speech output, being in the auditory…

Research on graphic symbol learning suggests that symbols with a greater visual resemblance to their referents (greater iconicity) are more easily learned. The iconicity hypothesis has not yet been explored within the intervention protocol of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Within the PECS protocol, participants do not point to a…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is increasingly being advocated as the preferred approach to practice in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The EBP process involves multiple steps. The asking of a well-built question is the first step in the quest for answers. At the same time it is also often the first stumbling block for…

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) as an area of clinical and educational practice involves a myriad of decisions related to the symbols, devices, and strategies from which each client must choose. These decision-making points can be productively informed through evidence from comparative intervention studies. The purpose of this…

In this systematic replication of a previous study (R. W. Schlosser, D. M. Blischak, P. J. Belfiore, C. Bartley, & N. Barnett, 1998), the effects of speech and print feedback on spelling performance were evaluated. Four children with autism and no functional speech were taught to spell words with a speech-generating device under 3 feedback…

Purpose: This article presents the results of a meta-analysis to determine the effect of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) on the speech production of individuals with developmental disabilities. Method: A comprehensive search of the literature published between 1975 and 2003, which included data on speech production before, during,…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of pyramidal training with direct care staff in group homes. Training focused on teaching staff how to provide opportunities for communication to non-speaking children with developmental disabilities to communicate. Staff were taught through a combination of a workshop, and nondirective consultation following…

Background: Efficient library searches for research evidence are critical to practitioners who wish to engage in evidence-based practice (EBP) as well as researchers who seek to develop systematic reviews. Aims: This review will propose the benefits of the search technique "Pearl Growing" ("Traditional Pearl Growing") as well…

This article reviews evidence regarding the role of speech-generating devices (SGDs) and talking word processing software in supporting independent spelling in children with autism. Two studies support the importance of assessing the relative benefits of feedback modes for individual learners with autism rather than assuming SGDs should supply…

Effects of synthetic speech output on the learning of graphic symbols by three adults with severe to profound mental retardation and communication impairments were evaluated. All participants achieved criterion learning using synthetic speech; two also reached criterion without synthetic speech, but the addition of synthetic speech resulted in…