The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of two AAC technologies on indices of happiness for school-age children with multiple disabilities during interactions with their school speech-language pathologists. The study applied a post host secondary analysis of a previously completed single-subject alternating treatment design study…

Between 30 and 50% of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) do not develop vocal language deemed functionally acceptable to meet their daily communication needs. As a result, individuals with ASD may require intervention alternatives to vocal speech, such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). However, very little is known…

Powerful, portable, off-the-shelf handheld devices, such as tablet based computers (i.e., iPad®; Galaxy®) or portable multimedia players (i.e., iPod®), can be adapted to function as speech generating devices for individuals with autism spectrum disorders or related developmental disabilities. This paper reviews the research in this new and rapidly…

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) applications may differ in their use of display and design elements. Using a multielement design, this study compared mand acquisition in three preschool-aged males with autism spectrum disorder, across three different displays in two iPad® AAC applications. Displays included a Widgit symbol button…

The Center for Disease Control estimates that one in 88 births result in a diagnosis of autism (CDC, 2012). Of those individuals diagnosed with autism approximately 25-61% fail to develop vocal output capabilities (Weitxz, Dexter, & Moore, 1997). The use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems, such as Picture Exchange (PE)…

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: To determine (a) the effect of fundamental frequency (f0) on speech intelligibility, acceptability, and perceived gender in electrolaryngeal (EL) speakers, and (b) the effect of known gender on speech acceptability in EL speakers. Method: A 2-part study was conducted. In Part 1, 34 healthy adults provided speech recordings using…

Purpose: This investigation examined the effect of repeated exposure to novel and repeated spoken words in typical environments on the intelligibility of 2 synthesized voices and human recorded speech in preschools. Method: Eighteen preschoolers listened to and repeated single words presented in human-recorded speech, DECtalk Paul, and AT&T Voice…

The purpose of this comparative efficacy study was to investigate the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and a speech-generating device (SGD) in developing requesting skills, social-communicative behavior, and speech for three elementary-age children with severe autism and little to no functional speech. Requesting was selected as the…

This study addresses the use of speech amplification devices in speech therapy sessions. The major factor addressed is the impact that speech amplification has upon the managerial time of speech-language pathologists who provide therapy in small group sessions. This study measured the change in the amount of time speech-language pathologists spent…

This study compares use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and a Voice Output Communication Aide (VOCA) with four preschool children who were either non-speaking or limited in their ability to speak and did not use an AAC system to communicate functionally. An alternating treatment single subject design was used to measure…

This paper provides an overview of the literature dealing with the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and voice output communication aids (VOCAs) for promoting the performance of requests by students with developmental disabilities. Computerized and manual searches were carried out to identify the studies published during the…

Purpose: Directed scanning and group-item scanning both represent options for increased scanning efficiency. This investigation compared accuracy and speed of selection with preschoolers using each scanning method. The study's purpose was to describe performance characteristics of typically developing children and to provide a reliable assessment…

Two prototype voice output communication aids were implemented to compare methods of graphic symbol message formulation; one emulated current devices that require syntactical ordering of icons (Default) and the other used semantic frames (iconCHAT). Message constructions of eight typically developing children (7-10 years of age) using both…