Assessing Non-Oral Clients for Assistive Communication Devices

As the number of commercially available communication aids increases, determining an appropriate device for a particular client becomes more difficult. The development of systematic assessment procedures on which to base device recommendations has therefore become an important research problem. This report presents a set of assessment procedures developed by the authors in the Assistive Device Center at California State University-Sacramento. These procedures and their use in determining a communication device recommendation are illustrated through a description of two case studies.

Download Full-text

EXPERIENCES, FRUSTRATIONS, AND BARRIERS, OF IPAD USAGE IN THE SPECIAL EDUCATION: LIFE SKILLS CLASSROOM FROM EDUCATORS PERSPECTIVE

Informatics and Education ◽

10.32517/0234-0453-2018-33-8-61-67 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 61-67

Author(s):

D. J. Sullivan ◽

S. Labby ◽

A. Koptelov ◽

S. L. Sullivan

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Mixed Methods ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Life Skills ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Educational Tool ◽

Special Educator ◽

Communications Systems ◽

Communication Device ◽

Communication Devices

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the barriers that special educator teachers encounter when using iPads within the Life Skills classroom. The research investigates the experiences, frustrations, and barriers through educators’ perceptions of iPad implementation. The influence of these issues suggests why iPad usage is not a device that special education classrooms are using in a widespread daily manner. Exploration of iPads as an educational tool and as a communication device is also discussed, along with considerations of other communications systems such as Picture Exchange Communication Systems and Alternative and Augmented Communication Devices is considered. Recommendations for further possible research are also discussed.

Download Full-text

Gerald R. McMenamin (1994) Forensic Stylistics: A Workbook, published by the author, Department of Linguistics, California State University, Fresno. 84 pp. A4.

International Journal of Speech Language and the Law ◽

10.1558/ijsll.v2i1.115 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 115-120

Author(s):

Charles Owen

Keyword(s):

California State University ◽

State University

Download Full-text

Effect of Augmentative Technology on Communication and Quality of Life After Tracheostomy or Total Laryngectomy

Otolaryngology ◽

10.1177/01945998211013778 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 019459982110137

Author(s):

Catherine T. Haring ◽

Janice L. Farlow ◽

Marie Leginza ◽

Kaitlin Vance ◽

Anna Blakely ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Total Laryngectomy ◽

Electronic Communication ◽

Well Being ◽

Chi Square ◽

Communication Device ◽

Patient Reported ◽

Communication Devices ◽

Related Quality

Objective Surgical procedures that render patients acutely aphonic can cause them to experience significant anxiety and distress. We queried patient perceptions after tracheostomy or laryngectomy and investigated whether introducing augmentative technology was associated with improvement in patient-reported outcomes. Methods Participants included hospitalized patients who acutely lost the ability to speak due to tracheostomy or total laryngectomy from April 2018 to December 2019. We distributed questions regarding the patient communication experience and relevant questions from the validated V-RQOL questionnaire (Voice-Related Quality of Life). Patients were offered a tablet with the electronic communication application Verbally. Pre- and postintervention groups were compared with chi-square analyses. Results Surveys were completed by 35 patients (n = 18, preintervention; n = 17, postintervention). Prior to using augmentative technology, 89% of patients who were aphonic reported difficulty communicating, specifically noting breathing or suctioning (56%), treatment and discharge plans (78%), or immediate needs, such as pain and using the bathroom (39%). Communication difficulties caused anxiety (55%), depression (44%), or frustration (62%), and 92% of patients were interested in using an electronic communication device. Patients reported less trouble communicating after the intervention versus before (53% vs 89%, P = .03), including less difficulty communicating about treatment or discharge plans (35% vs 78%, P < .01). V-RQOL scores were unchanged. Discussion Acute loss of phonation arising from surgery can be highly distressing for patients, and use of augmentative technology may alleviate some of these challenges by improving communication. Further studies are needed to identify what additional strategies may improve overall well-being. Implications for Practice Electronic communication devices may benefit patients with acute aphonia.

Download Full-text

Identification of Words and Phrases Through a Phonemic-Based Haptic Display

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception ◽

10.1145/3458725 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Charlotte M. Reed ◽

Hong Z. Tan ◽

Yang Jiao ◽

Zachary D. Perez ◽

E. Courtenay Wilson

Keyword(s):

Speech Communication ◽

Haptic Display ◽

Communication Aids ◽

Remote Communication ◽

Computer Interfaces ◽

Speech Reception ◽

Communication Device ◽

Human Computer Interfaces ◽

Sensory Impairments ◽

Effective Transmission

Stand-alone devices for tactile speech reception serve a need as communication aids for persons with profound sensory impairments as well as in applications such as human-computer interfaces and remote communication when the normal auditory and visual channels are compromised or overloaded. The current research is concerned with perceptual evaluations of a phoneme-based tactile speech communication device in which a unique tactile code was assigned to each of the 24 consonants and 15 vowels of English. The tactile phonemic display was conveyed through an array of 24 tactors that stimulated the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the forearm. Experiments examined the recognition of individual words as a function of the inter-phoneme interval (Study 1) and two-word phrases as a function of the inter-word interval (Study 2). Following an average training period of 4.3 hrs on phoneme and word recognition tasks, mean scores for the recognition of individual words in Study 1 ranged from 87.7% correct to 74.3% correct as the inter-phoneme interval decreased from 300 to 0 ms. In Study 2, following an average of 2.5 hours of training on the two-word phrase task, both words in the phrase were identified with an accuracy of 75% correct using an inter-word interval of 1 sec and an inter-phoneme interval of 150 ms. Effective transmission rates achieved on this task were estimated to be on the order of 30 to 35 words/min.

Download Full-text

Epic Cruelty: On Post-Pandemic Performance

New Theatre Quarterly ◽

10.1017/s0266464x21000026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 119-136

Author(s):

Rick Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

United States ◽

African Americans ◽

The United States ◽

California State University ◽

The State ◽

State University ◽

White Supremacist ◽

Systemic Racism ◽

Disaster Capitalism

As today’s catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates ongoing crises, including systemic racism, rising ethno-nationalism, and fossil-fuelled climate change, the neoliberal world that we inhabit is becoming increasingly hostile, particularly for the most vulnerable. Even in the United States, as armed white-supremacist, pro-Trump forces face off against protesters seeking justice for African Americans, the hostility is increasingly palpable, and often frightening. Yet as millions of Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrated after the brutal police killing of George Floyd, the current, intersecting crises – worsened by Trump’s criminalization of anti-racism protesters and his dismissal of science – demand a serious, engaged, response from activists as well as artists. The title of this article is meant to evoke not only the state of the unusually cruel moment through which we are living, but also the very different approaches to performance of both Brecht and Artaud, whose ideas, along with those of others – including Benjamin, Butler, Latour, Mbembe, and Césaire – inform the radical, open-ended, post-pandemic theatre practice proposed in this essay. A critically acclaimed dramatist as well as Professor of English and Playwriting at California State University, Northridge, Mitchell’s published volumes of plays include Disaster Capitalism; or Money Can’t Buy You Love: Three Plays; Brecht in L.A.; and Ventriloquist: Two Plays and Ventriloquial Miscellany. He is the editor of Experimental O’Neill, and is currently at work on a series of post-pandemic plays.

Download Full-text