Visual scene displays (VSDs) are becoming an increasingly popular method of message representation within augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports; however, design factors can influence the effectiveness of these images as communication supports. One issue that has come to light in recent years is the fact that selecting…

Children with intellectual disabilities experience well-documented challenges in the development of problem-solving, particularly related to mathematical word-problem solving. Such challenges are related to both linguistic and conceptual skills. While interventions to assist children in developing conceptual skills are well reported, linguistic…

Four 5-year-old children with receptive language within normal limits and who required augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) received instruction in producing six different semantic--syntactic structures (three treatment and three generalization targets). Participants accessed single-meaning graphic symbols using an AAC app on an iPad…

There is a significant increase of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); therefore, parents, educators, and specially trained instructional resource teachers need to come together to provide effective programming for these children. This paper provides a number of strategies and educational methods to assist educators in…

Individuals with low functioning autism spectrum disorders (LFASD) who demonstrate significant cognitive and communication needs benefit from using technology for learning graphic symbols for enhancing participation. This study investigated if an iPad application would increase identification of graphic symbols by children and adults with LFASD.…

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may require interventions for communication difficulties. One type of intervention is picture communication symbols which are proposed to improve comprehension of linguistic input for children with ASD. However, atypical attention to faces and objects is widely reported across the autism…

A dual language learner (DLL) is a young child who is exposed to and is acquiring two or more languages. Multilingualism is common worldwide, and even in countries like the United States, the number of young children who are DLLs is rising rapidly (Goldstein, 2011; Toppelberg, Snow, & Tager-Flusberg, 1999). The purpose of this article is to:…

With more children and young adults with severe disabilities in today's general education classrooms, SLPs and other professionals must be ready to support their students' communication skills with effective AAC. They'll get the proven strategies they need with this intervention guide from top AAC experts, ideal for use as an in-service…

Children with complex communication needs (CCN) resulting from autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other disabilities are severely restricted in their participation in educational, vocational, family, and community environments. There is a substantial body of research that demonstrates convincingly that children with CCN…

Many individuals with autism cannot speak or cannot speak intelligibly. A variety of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) approaches have been investigated. Most of the research on these approaches has been single-case research, with small numbers of participants. The purpose of this investigation was to meta-analyze the single…

Teachers, speech and language therapists, teaching assistants and nursery nurses are required to work together in a range of contexts in Foundation Stage (FS) school settings in the UK. In some cases these groups of practitioners are mutually involved in the implementation of a strategy or intervention and in the use of a particular tool or…

Despite expansive improvements in both treatments and research, the majority of persons with autism use non-empirically supported interventions. One way to decrease the research-to-practice gap involves increasing the direct applicability of research findings to clinical settings. Effectiveness research achieves this goal by identifying treatments…

Purpose: To describe the nature and frequency of the aided language stimulation program and determine the effects of a 3-week-long aided language stimulation program on the vocabulary acquisition skills of children with little or no functional speech (LNFS). Method: Four children participated in this single-subject,multiple-probe study across…

Fifty-six studies from 1980 to 2007 involving the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) by individuals with autism were reviewed. The majority of the studies used single-subject research designs and emphasized language production skills. Many investigations were held in artificial language learning settings, and a few involved…