Ann R. Beck

Attitudes of school-aged children toward their peers who use augmentative and alternative communication

Two studies were conducted. In the first, a reliable and valid tool was developed for measuring the attitudes of elementary school-aged children in grades 1 to 5 toward their peers who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In the second, this tool was used to determine the influence of the type of AAC technique used and the physical ability status of the AAC user on childrens attitudes. No effects of AAC technique or physical status existed for children in grades 3 and 5. A significant interaction did exist, however, for children in grade 1. Developmental trends were also apparent. These results are discussed in terms of their implications regarding determinants and dimensions of childrens attitudes toward peers who use AAC and in terms of their clinical implications.

Attitudes of children toward a similar-aged child who uses augmentative communication

Two videotape recordings were made of a boy who was physically disabled and nonspeaking. In one, the child communicated using a nonelectronic alphabet board and, in the other, a high-technology augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. The Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Toward Children with Handicaps (CATCH) scale was used to assess the attitudes of fifth graders toward this child. One group of fifth graders attended schools in which children with disabilities were integrated. Another group attended schools in which children with disabilities were not integrated. Within these groups, one subgroup watched the nonelectronic video and one the high-technology video. Results indicated significant effects of gender and school on attitude scores, but not of video viewed. Possible reasons, clinical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

The Effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System with Nonspeaking Adults

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) training was implemented with 5 nonspeaking adults with mental retardation who were not currently using any type of functional communication system. A modified ABAB, single-subject design was used to assess the effectiveness of PECS in enhancing the functional communication skills of these individuals. Three individuals progressed through 4 PECS training phases relatively quickly and developed functional skills that they were able to display in home and community settings. Two other individuals demonstrated limited progress, and the PECS training did not meaningfully alter their level of communicative competence. Implications for teaching functional communication skills to nonspeaking adults are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.

Increasing Research Self-Efficacy Among Students in Professional Academic Programs

Gains in research self-efficacy for 60 Social Work and 75 Speech-Language Pathology students were compared. Our interest was to investigate whether students enrolled in both research and practice courses made greater gains in research self-efficacy over a semester, as compared to students enrolled in practice courses only. Findings indicated that Speech-Language Pathology students taking both research and practice courses showed the greatest gain. Examination of the Speech-Language Pathology curriculum suggested that when research courses were augmented with opportunities to apply research learning outside of class, greater gain in student confidence was achieved. We discuss implications for curricular development and interdisciplinary discourse on curriculum matters, and these implications reach beyond the two specific disciplines.

An Investigation of Aided Language Stimulation: Does it Increase AAC Use with Adults with Developmental Disabilities and Complex Communication Needs?

A single subject ABAB design was used to determine the efficacy of aided language stimulation to teach the use of AAC techniques to adults with developmental disabilities. Sixteen participants were divided into two equal groups. In each group, half of the participants were able to communicate functionally using spoken language and half had complex communication needs and did not have functional, symbolic communication systems. Each group met twice weekly for 30 min per session. Researchers modeled the use of AAC and followed scripts during music-based interventions. Sessions focused on social greetings, choosing songs to play, learning words and movements for the songs, and discussing the songs. Participants were encouraged to interact with each other and to facilitate each others communications. Results suggest that responsiveness and use of AAC increased for all participants with complex communication needs.

Speech-Language Pathologists' and Teachers' Perceptions of Classroom-Based Interventions.

Surveys were sent to speech-language pathologists and to teachers regarding their perceptions of classroom-based interventions. Respondents were asked to rate, on a 5-point scale, factors that pert...

Influence of length of augmented message on children's attitudes toward Peers who use augmentative and alternative communication

The influence of conversational phrase length on the attitudes of two groups of grade-schoolaged children (i.e., those familiar and unfamiliar with children with disabilities) was studied. Length did not influence the attitudes of familiar children but did influence the attitudes of unfamiliar children in grades 3 and 5. The unfamiliar children who saw a videotape of a child communicating with two- to four-word augmented messages had more positive attitude responses than did the children who saw a videotape of a child communicating with one-word augmented messages. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Can People Who Have Aphasia Learn Iconic Codes

This study used a group of 10 people with aphasia, 5 with anterior aphasias and 5 with posterior aphasias, and a group of 10 non-brain-damaged controls to investigate four questions: Can people with aphasia learn iconic encoding? Does the ability to learn iconic encoding vary with different types of aphasia? Does the level of abstraction of the messages affect the ability to learn iconic encoding? Does the length of an icon sequence affect the ability to learn iconic encoding? Results indicated that people with aphasia can learn iconic encoding under specific conditions. Type of aphasia, level of abstraction, and length of icon sequence influenced learning. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The Use of Instructional Technology in Direct Vocabulary Instruction

A bivalent counterbalanced within-subjects research design was used to determine the effectiveness of vocabulary instruction across two instructional conditions with 30 3 to 4-year-old at-risk preschool children. Instruction presented vocabulary words via static pictures with one subgroup and via projection and animation with the other. Conditions then were reversed. Dependent variables were childrens serial free recall ability in specified categories and ability to name aloud selected pictures. There was a pretest, instructional, and posttest phase for each condition. Maintenance data were collected 12 weeks after the last posttest session. Results indicated no difference between conditions. Posttest and maintenance data indicated an increase in serial free recall and picture naming of targeted vocabulary that was maintained above the pretest level for all dependent variables.

Language Assessment Methods For Three Age Groups of Children

This article describes results of a survey of licensed, midwestern, school-based speech-language pathologists regarding methods used to assess the language of children ages 3 to 5 years, 6 to 11 years, and 12 to 18 years. Striking similarities were found in methods used for each age group. Results of this survey are also compared to those of a similar survey done in a western state to indicate if national tendencies in language assessment may be present. How these methods relate to assessment practices recommended in literature and reasons cited by respondents for choosing these methods are discussed.