School-Based Augmentative and Alternative Communication Evaluation Reports

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (Spring) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doreen M. Blischak ◽  
Kimberly Ho
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
School Based ◽  
Communication Evaluation

Framework for Selecting Vocabulary for Preliterate Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1000-1009
Author(s):  
Allison Bean ◽  
Lindsey Paden Cargill ◽  
Samantha Lyle
Keyword(s):  
Language Impairment ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
School Based ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Nonverbal Children ◽  
Grammatical Structures ◽  
Insufficient Knowledge

Purpose Nearly 50% of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) provide services to school-age children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). However, many SLPs report having insufficient knowledge in the area of AAC implementation. The objective of this tutorial is to provide clinicians with a framework for supporting 1 area of AAC implementation: vocabulary selection for preliterate children who use AAC. Method This tutorial focuses on 4 variables that clinicians should consider when selecting vocabulary: (a) contexts/environments where the vocabulary can be used, (b) time span during which the vocabulary will be relevant, (c) whether the vocabulary can elicit and maintain interactions with other people, and (d) whether the vocabulary will facilitate developmentally appropriate grammatical structures. This tutorial focuses on the role that these variables play in language development in verbal children with typical development, verbal children with language impairment, and nonverbal children who use AAC. Results Use of the 4 variables highlighted above may help practicing SLPs select vocabulary that will best facilitate language acquisition in preliterate children who use AAC.

Developing an Effective Framework for the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Evaluation Process

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste R. Helling ◽  
Jamila Minga
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Complex Communication Needs ◽  
Expressive Communication ◽  
Communication Evaluation ◽  
Communication Needs

A comprehensive augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) evaluation is critical to providing a viable means of expressive communication for nonverbal people with complex communication needs. Although a number of diagnostic tools are available to assist AAC practitioners with the assessment process, there is a need to tailor the evaluation process to the specific communication needs of the AAC user. The purpose of this paper is to provide a basis for developing an effective and clinically driven framework for approaching a user-tailored AAC evaluation process.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Assessment in the Schools

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Proctor ◽  
Jill Oswalt
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Complex Communication Needs ◽  
Communication Assessment ◽  
School Based ◽  
Main Portion ◽  
Communication Needs

Abstract The purpose of this article is to review augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment issues in the schools. Initially, the article discusses the role and responsibilities of school-based speech-language pathologists in the assessment of children with complex communication needs. Next, the article briefly reflects on the importance of teaming in device selection for children with AAC needs. The main portion of the article provides information on assessment tools and resources related to comprehensive assessment for children with complex communication needs. This includes information on assessment of speech production and the relevance in AAC assessment. This is followed by tools and resources for receptive language and expressive language assessment. Also included in this main section is information on tools that examine academic and social participation. Finally, information on literacy assessment for student with complex communication needs is provided. The intent of the article is to provide the reader with a brief overview of assessment tools and resources for children with complex communication needs.

Case Studies of Intermediate Steps/Between AAC Evaluations and Implementation

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 150-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheela Stuart ◽  
Christopher Ritthaler
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Second Opinion ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
School Based ◽  
Speech Generating Device ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract This article presents two case studies of children with complex communication needs, including a diagnosis of autism. Although different in age and overall diagnoses, both children primarily used behaviors, gestures, and limited overall vocalizations for communication. In each case, some pictures and signing had been intermittently incorporated into their school programs with very little success. The school-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) teams had used the candidacy model and decided that, until the children made gains in cognition and behavior, they could not use any type of speech generating device. In each instance, the child's parent disagreed and requested a second AAC evaluation. The second opinion evaluating center incorporated Language Acquisition Though Motor Planning (LAMP) to utilize a speech generating device for participation in some motivating activities. Results were sufficiently positive to support trial use of this approach and private outpatient sessions were provided. The article includes a brief overview of the resulting journey: the give-and-take process between second opinion center, parents, and school to arrive at a form of successful communication for each child.

scholarly journals Augmentative and Alternative Communication Telepractice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Elizabeth E. Biggs ◽  
Michelle C. S. Therrien ◽  
Sarah N. Douglas ◽  
Melinda R. Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Know How ◽  
School Based ◽  
Aided Aac ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Purpose: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to sudden, widespread use of telepractice, including providing services to children who use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This exploratory study examined speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) experiences using telepractice to provide services to children and youth aged 3–21 years who used aided AAC during the earlier months of the pandemic (May–June 2020). Method: Three hundred thirty-one SLPs responded to an online survey. Closed- and open-ended survey items were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and mixed at the point of interpretation to understand the experiences of SLPs related to the use of telepractice with children who use aided AAC, including how they perceived effectiveness. Results: Most SLPs were using telepractice to provide both direct and consultation/coaching services to children who used aided AAC. There was fairly wide variation in perceptions of effectiveness of both types of services, but SLPs were more likely to rate consultation/coaching services as being more effective than direct services. SLPs identified factors impacting effectiveness across five dimensions: broader factors, practice-based factors (i.e., technology, the type of services), the child, parents and family members, and professionals. School-based SLPs perceived telepractice as being less effective than non–school-based SLPs. Conclusions: The use of telepractice during the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded quite differently for different SLPs and the children who use aided AAC that they serve. Although AAC telepractice offers promise for the future, particularly for partnering with families, further research is needed to know how to overcome challenges experienced by SLPs. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.17139434

Comments on augmentative and alternative communication evaluation and system selection: a response to Woltosz

1989 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Reichle ◽  
Theresa Mustonen ◽  
Jeff Sigafoos ◽  
Linda Hinderscheit ◽  
Gloria Wiemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Communication Evaluation ◽  
System Selection

Conducting an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Assessment as a School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist: A Collaborative Experience

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Dodd ◽  
Alicia Schaefer ◽  
Aaron Rothbart
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Position Statement ◽  
Scope Of Practice ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Communication Assessment ◽  
School Based ◽  
Aged Child ◽  
Therapy Services

In addition to providing services to children who demonstrate speech and language impairments, it is within a speech-language pathologist's (SLP's) scope of practice to “recognize and hold paramount the needs and interests of individuals who may benefit from AAC [Augmentative and Alternative Communication]” (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), 2005, Position Statement section, para. 3). However, in spite of nearly one-half of all school-based SLPs reporting they provide services to nonverbal students who utilize AAC systems (ASHA 2012; Kent-Walsh, Stark, & Binger, 2008; Proctor & Oswalt, 2008) many SLPs across the country still do not feel adequately trained to assess and provide therapy services to these children (Costigan & Light, 2010; Kent-Walsh et al., 2008; Light, Drager, Currall, & Roberts, 2012). It is becoming increasingly necessary for all SLPs to assume responsibilities in the AAC process. The case study presented in this article illustrates the collaborative process of conducting an AAC assessment for a preschool-aged child.

Guiding Student Clinicians as They Develop AAC Goals and Monitor Progress During School-Based Externship

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (12) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
Charles H. Carlin ◽  
Katie Boarman ◽  
Erin E. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Progress Monitoring ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Complex Communication Needs ◽  
School Based ◽  
Supervision Model ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
The Continuum

Student clinicians find goal writing and progress monitoring to be difficult tasks to learn, especially when children on the caseload have complex communication needs (CCNs). School-based externship supervisors play an important role in developing students' understanding and competence in these skills. This article provides supervisors with strategies for instructing student clinicians to write goals and evaluate the effectiveness of services for children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Additionally, the authors adapt the Continuum of Supervision Model (Anderson, 1988) for supervisors who train students to write goals and monitor progress for children who use AAC.

Technology as a Language Tool: Augmentative and Alternative Communication in the Classroom

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
Jennifer Kent-Walsh ◽  
Cathy Binger
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Environment ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Obvious Effect ◽  
School Based ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Communication Needs

As evidenced across the articles in this issue of Perspectives, the modern classroom includes a range of technologies that afford educators, students, and families more ways to engage and communicate than many of us ever could have imagined. One group for which the technological revolution has had a particularly obvious effect in the school environment has been with students who are not able to meet all of their communication needs using natural speech. Students requiring the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) have enjoyed an exponential increase in options for communicating in all relevant environments, including the classroom. School-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) possess a range of skills that allows them to help facilitate functional use of AAC technologies in the classroom environment. Given that AAC technologies are language tools, SLPs can employ their expertise in language to implement relevant goals, objectives, and interventions for children with AAC needs. To illustrate this point, an AAC case study is presented along with sample goals and interventions that may be used in the school setting.

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