John W. McCarthy

Performance of Typically Developing Four- and Five-Year-Old Children with AAC Systems using Different Language Organization Techniques

In this paper, the results of two studies designed to investigate the learning demands of four different approaches to the layout and organization of language in electronic augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems are presented: taxonomic grid, schematic grid, schematic scene, and iconic encoding techniques. A total of 80 typically developing children participated in the two studies: 40 four-year-olds (Study 1) and 40 five-year-olds (Study 2). Ten children in each study were randomly assigned to each of the four system organization conditions. The children were introduced to target vocabulary items (24 items for the 4-year-olds and 30 for the 5-year-olds) in a series of four learning and testing sessions. Half of the vocabulary items were concrete concepts and half were abstract concepts. Results of the studies indicated that the 4-year-old and 5-year-old children were more accurate locating target vocabulary in the three dynamic display conditions (taxonomic grid, schematic grid, schematic scene) than in the iconic encoding condition. On initial exposure to the systems, the iconic encoding technique was not at all transparent to the children; the other three systems were only moderately transparent. All but one of the 4-year-old children and all of the 5-year-old children demonstrated gains in accuracy across the learning sessions; gains were significantly greater for the three dynamic display conditions than for the iconic encoding condition. The children were more accurate with the concrete vocabulary items than the abstract ones. There was some, albeit limited, evidence that the children generalized to facilitate learning of novel vocabulary items. Results are discussed with reference to the literature. Implications for practice and directions for future research are also discussed.

Learning to Listen: Teaching an Active Listening Strategy to Preservice Education Professionals

The importance of parent–teacher communication has been widely recognized; however, there is only limited research on teaching effective listening skills to education professionals. In this study, a pretest–posttest control group design was used to examine the effect of instruction on the active listening skills of preservice education professionals. Instruction resulted in statistically significant improvement for targeted active listening skills. As a measure of social validity, parents of preschool and school-age children viewed pre- and postinstruction videotapes of preservice education professionals in role-play conversations. The parents judged the postinstruction performances of the preservice education professionals to be better examples of effective communication than the preinstruction performances of the preservice education professionals.

Re-designing scanning to reduce learning demands: The performance of typically developing 2-year-olds

Children with severe motor impairments who cannot use direct selection are typically introduced to scanning as a means of accessing assistive technology. Unfortunately, it is difficult for young children to learn to scan because the design of current scanning techniques does not always make explicit the offer of items from the selection array; furthermore, it does not provide explicit feedback after activation of the switch to select the target item. In the current study, scanning was redesigned to reduce learning demands by making both the offer of items and the feedback upon selection more explicit through the use of animation realized through HTML and speech output with appropriate intonation. Twenty typically developing 2-year-olds without disabilities were randomly assigned to use either traditional scanning or enhanced scanning to select target items from an array of three items. The 2-year-olds did not learn to use traditional scanning across three sessions. Their performance in Session 3 did not differ from that in Session 1; they did not exceed chance levels of accuracy in either session (mean accuracy of 20% for Sessions 1 and 3). In contrast, the children in the enhanced scanning condition demonstrated improvements in accuracy across the three 10 – 20-min sessions (mean accuracies of 22 and 48% for Sessions 1 and 3, respectively). There were no reliable differences between the childrens performances with the two scanning techniques for Session 1; however, by Session 3, the children were more than twice as accurate using the enhanced scanning technique compared to the traditional design. Results suggest that by redesigning scanning, we may be able to reduce some of the learning demands and thereby reduce some of the instructional time required for children to attain mastery. Clinical implications, limitations, and directions for future research and development are discussed.

Relation of three mechanisms of working memory to children’s complex span performance

There is a paucity of research examining the relative contribution of the different mechanisms of working memory (short-term storage [STM], processing speed) to children’s complex memory span. This study served to replicate and extend the few extant studies that have examined the issue. In this study, the relative contribution of three mechanisms of working memory — STM storage, processing speed, attentional resource allocation — to children’s complex span was examined. Children (6—12) completed a digit span task, an auditory-visual reaction time task, a task of attentional allocation, and a complex (listening) span task. Correlation analyses revealed that, after controlling for age, storage, processing speed, and attentional allocation significantly correlated with complex span. Regression analyses showed that, after partialling out age, storage accounted for 12.1% of unique variance in complex span and processing speed accounted for another 6.6% of unique variance; allocation contributed no unique variance. Consistent with the developmental literature, storage and general processing speed play critical roles in children’s complex span performance.

The effect of high-tech AAC system position on the joint attention of infants without disabilities.

Joint attention is critical for language development in children. Children with complex communication needs have additional challenges in managing their joint attention, and there is minimal information on how to reduce these demands. Sixteen infants without disabilities and their caregivers participated in a within-subjects design with two storybook reading interactions. In reading, the researcher either held a high-tech AAC system directly in front of herself (aligned with eye-gaze) or to the side (divided from eye-gaze). The frequency and duration of coordinated and passive joint attention episodes were analyzed. The aligned condition resulted in significantly greater frequency and duration of coordinated joint attention than passive joint attention in episodes involving the AAC system. Age was significantly related to frequency and duration of joint attention only in the aligned condition. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Instructional effectiveness of an integrated theater arts program for children using augmentative and alternative communication and their nondisabled peers: Preliminary study

The use of inclusive theater arts activities offers numerous potential benefits to children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The activities may provide an effective context to promote communication, social interaction, and artistic expression. This article presents a preliminary study that provides a descriptive analysis of the instructional effectiveness of a 2-week program that involved two children who used AAC and three nondisabled peers. Data were collected on the amount of time the children were engaged, the number of communication opportunities with which they were provided, the number of opportunities fulfilled by the children, and the success of the communicative turns. The results indicated high levels of engagement, frequent communication opportunities, and high levels of success across all children. The educational implications and future research directions are discussed.

Using Online Discussion Boards with Large and Small Groups to Enhance Learning of Assistive Technology.

There is a need for further research to understand the potential uses of asynchronous electronic discussions in higher education courses. Electronic discussion boards were conducted with two different graduate speech-language pathology student cohorts to supplement in-class instruction regarding assistive technology. One year’s discussions were done as a single large group while the second year’s were done in multiple-small groups. These discussion boards were analyzed for emerging themes. Students’ opinions of the discussion board, along with their suggestions for improvement, were also requested and analyzed. Results indicated that the discussion boards were a successful tool in maximizing the potential for knowledge acquisition outside the classroom and that several enhancements could be added to improve the overall experience. In particular, instructor involvement was more easily incorporated into large groups and small groups had fewer students reporting about redundancy of posts. Practical applications and future research directions are discussed.

The Effects of Reading Personal Narratives Written by an Individual Who Uses AAC on the Attitudes of Pre-Professionals in Business

A Solomon Four-Group Design was used to study the effects of reading personal narratives written by an individual with complex communication needs on the attitudes, potential future behaviors, and general experiences of 109 undergraduate business majors. The Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Persons Scale (ATNP) and a scale of behavioral intentions modeled according to Ajzens () Theory of Planned Behavior were used as dependent variables. A sub-group of individuals in the experimental group participated in individual follow-up interviews. Results revealed individuals who read the narratives had more positive attitudes than those who did not; however, there were potentially reactive effects for pre-testing evident on one subscale of the ATNP scale. Interviews revealed a need for more explicit information about the workings of AAC and a need to change expectations about working with individuals with disabilities.

The effects of internet-based instruction on the social problem solving of young adults who use augmentative and alternative communication

Individuals with disabilities who require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems typically face considerable challenges in their educational, vocational, and living situations. Developing effective problem solving skills is important to maximizing outcomes. Current problem-solving programs do not address the unique needs of individuals who use AAC in terms of instructional content and instructional format. The current study implemented a single-subject, multiple probe across subjects design to investigate the effects of an online instructional program designed to teach problem solving to young adults who use AAC. The participants were taught to: (a) describe the problem; (b) outline many possible solutions to the problem; (c) identify the outcomes of the top two solutions; and (d) take action with the best solution. All five participants (ages 18 – 20) successfully completed the program and learned to implement the elements of effective problem solving in their solutions to hypothetical problems with at least 80% accuracy after instruction. Furthermore, participants demonstrated evidence that they could generalize the strategy to problems in their own lives and that they could maintain their skills in implementing the strategy at least 3 months after the instructional program was completed. Results, implications for practice, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Simultaneous Natural Speech and AAC Interventions for Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Lessons from a Speech-Language Pathologist Focus Group

Abstract In childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), children exhibit varying levels of speech intelligibility depending on the nature of errors in articulation and prosody. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies are beneficial, and commonly adopted with children with CAS. This study focused on the decision-making process and strategies adopted by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when simultaneously implementing interventions that focused on natural speech and AAC. Eight SLPs, with significant clinical experience in CAS and AAC interventions, participated in an online focus group. Thematic analysis revealed eight themes: key decision-making factors; treatment history and rationale; benefits; challenges; therapy strategies and activities; collaboration with team members; recommendations; and other comments. Results are discussed along with clinical implications and directions for future research.