The potential for developing a tactile communication system based on Blissymbolics.

OBJECTIVE: To be useful for tactile communication, tactile stimuli need to be discriminable from each other. The objective of this study was to determine whether raised-line renderings of Blissymbols have the capacity for being developed into a tactile communication system as measured by their tactile discriminability. METHODS: Tactile discrimination of Blissymbols was measured by performance on a task in which participants were asked to feel a target raised-line Blissymbol and then to find the target within an array containing the target and raised-line Blissymbol foils. RESULTS: The vast majority of tactile Blissymbols had tactile discrimination scores of 90% accuracy or better. CONCLUSION: Most raised-line Blissymbols can be tactilely discriminated from each other, indicating that they have the potential for being developed into a tactile communication system.

A computerized procedure for teaching the relationship between graphic symbols and their referents.

Many individuals with little or no functional speech communicate through graphic symbols. Communication is enhanced when the relationship between symbols and their referents are learned to such a degree that retrieval is effortless, resulting in fluent communication. Developing fluency is a time consuming endeavor for special educators and speech-language pathologists (SLPs). It would be beneficial for these professionals to have an automated procedure based on the most efficacious method for teaching the relationship between symbols and referent. Hence, this study investigated whether a procedure based on the generation effect would promote learning the association between symbols and their referents. Results show that referent generation produces the best long-term retention of this relationship. These findings provide evidence that software based on referent generation would provide special educators and SLPs with an efficacious automated procedure, requiring minimal direct supervision, to facilitate symbol/referent learning and the development of communicative fluency.

Preparation in augmentative and alternative communication: an update for speech-language pathology training.

PURPOSE: To report on data from the current survey about academic and clinical education in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), as well as to compare these findings with earlier surveys in an attempt to identify any changes being made as programs in the United States implement the new certification standards of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in the area of speech-language pathology. METHOD: A survey was sent to all speech-language pathology training programs in the United States via e-mail directed to program directors or faculty teaching in AAC. RESULTS: A total of 168 surveys were returned, for a return rate of 57.93%. Seventy-three percent of the respondents had a separate course in AAC, and 80% indicated AAC content was infused in other courses. CONCLUSIONS: Academic preparation in AAC, while varying across academic programs, has in general increased over the past decade. Data also suggested a continuing critical need for more academic and clinical preparation in this area.

Concomitant use of the matrix strategy and the mand-model procedure in teaching graphic symbol combinations.

Matrix strategies employing parts of speech arranged in systematic language matrices and milieu language teaching strategies have been successfully used to teach word combining skills to children who have cognitive disabilities and some functional speech. The present study investigated the acquisition and generalized production of two-term semantic relationships in a new population using new types of symbols. Three children with cognitive disabilities and little or no functional speech were taught to combine graphic symbols. The matrix strategy and the mand-model procedure were used concomitantly as intervention procedures. A multiple probe design across sets of action-object combinations with generalization probes of untrained combinations was used to teach the production of graphic symbol combinations. Results indicated that two of the three children learned the early syntactic-semantic rule of combining action-object symbols and demonstrated generalization to untrained action-object combinations and generalization across trainers. The results and future directions for research are discussed.

Issues in AAC research: how much do we really understand?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this introductory paper is to provide some overview of and background to the issues that were raised at the Augmentative and Alternative Research Seminar in conjunction with the First Regional AAC conference on 23 February 2004. A group of 45 AAC researchers and professionals convened for one day to discuss some basic research issues in AAC. This paper highlights themes and perspectives that emerged from the research seminar discussions. METHOD: Literature reviews and discussion are used to provide a historical perspective on some of the issues raised. Two focus areas were identified for the purpose of this introductory paper; firstly, terminological issues that arose and secondly common themes that emerged during the paper presentations, discussions and/or written papers. Terminological issues include a brief description of the field of AAC for the benefit of those readers who might not be familiar with the field, whereafter the discussion focuses on the use of the term "complex communication needs" as referring to individuals who use AAC, the differentiation between symbols, signs, symbols sets and systems as well as the terms verbal and nonverbal, pre-linguistic and non-symbolic. The common themes throughout the papers include a discussion on the importance of context in communication, the chicken and egg question (i.e., comprehension and production), issues on multimodality, descriptive strategies for understanding interaction, and the use of typical interaction as a framework for understanding AAC interaction. CONCLUSIONS: In reviewing some of the issues in the field it is apparent that the issues we face now and those faced in AAC during earlier years are similar, however the need for a stronger database is apparent as the approach towards evidence-based practice becomes more prominent. The move to understand the nature of complex relationships in interaction is highlighted, for example, the multiple associations between environment, comprehension as well as the use of multi-modal communication. Whilst it became evident that most of these issues need further research in relation to typical interactions, applications to the field of AAC are most challenging.

Translucency and Complexity: Effects on Blissymbol Learning Using Computer and Teacher Presentations.

PURPOSE: A single-subject alternating treatment design was used to (a) evaluate the influence of translucency (i.e., the guessability of the symbol when the referent is known) and complexity (i.e., the number of lines or strokes that compose the symbol) on Blissymbol acquisition and (b) compare the effectiveness of computer-based instruction (CBI) and traditional teacher-based instruction (TBI) on students' accuracy in identifying Blissymbols. METHOD: Three students with communication disorders were taught to identify 40 Blissymbols using the two instructional formats. RESULTS: Findings revealed that high translucency Blissymbols were learned significantly faster than low translucency Blissymbols for all participants. High complexity assisted learning when translucency was high, but hindered learning when translucency was low. These results were evident in both interventions. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Both interventions were found to be effective instructional methods for teaching Blissymbols.