Purpose: The developmental readiness to produce early sentences with an iPad communication application was assessed with ten 3- and 4-year-old children with severe speech disorders using graduated prompting dynamic assessment (DA) techniques. The participants' changes in performance within the DA sessions were evaluated, and DA performance was…

Youth with complex communication needs (CCN) face increased barriers to their social participation due to limited communication abilities and opportunities. Youth today use the internet as a social tool and youth with CCN may also benefit from internet use to increase their social participation. Five youth between the ages of 10-18 with CCN who…

A phonics-based reading curriculum in which students used an iPad to respond was created for students with developmental disabilities not able to verbally participate in traditional phonics instruction due to their use of augmentative and assistive communication. Time delay and a system of least prompts used in conjunction with text-to-speech…

The Office of Special Education and Student Services asked the Office of Shared Accountability to evaluate the "Facilitated Communication Pilot." In facilitated communication (FC), people with communication impairments express themselves by typing with the aid of a communication partner, called a facilitator, who provides physical (and…

Purpose: To compile and then validate a set of evidence-based best practices related to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and its role in fostering the inclusion of students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms and other inclusive settings. Method: A comprehensive review of the literature pertaining to AAC and…