Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is the field of
study concerned with
providing devices and techniques to augment the communicative ability of
a person whose
disability makes it difficult to speak or otherwise communicate in an understandable
fashion.
For several years, we have been applying natural language processing techniques
to the field
of AAC to develop intelligent communication aids that attempt to provide
linguistically
correct output while increasing communication rate. Previous effort has
resulted in a research
prototype called Compansion that expands telegraphic input. In this paper
we describe that
research prototype and introduce the Intelligent Parser Generator (IPG).
IPG is intended to
be a practical embodiment of the research prototype aimed at a group of
users who have
cognitive impairments that affect their linguistic ability. We describe
both the theoretical
underpinnings of Compansion and the practical considerations in developing
a usable system
for this population of users.
An efficient parser generator for natural language
