Still having his say: David Yoder's legacy in AAC.

On February 2 2023, one of the guiding lights in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for more than four decades, David E. Yoder, passed away at the age of 90. A voracious reader and gifted storyteller, David was particularly fond of a quote from George Bernard Shaw's Back to Methuselah, "You see things; and you say 'Why?' but I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'" That vision led him to take on multiple leadership roles and influence the field of AAC in multiple ways. He played a pivotal role in establishing both the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) and the United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC). Additionally, he chaired the panel for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)'s inaugural Consensus Validation Conference on AAC, advocated for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to recognize AAC within the profession's scope of practice, and served as the first editor for the Augmentative and Alternative Communication journal. In this tribute, we describe David's diverse and unique contributions to improving the lives of people with communication challenges with a focus on some of his central insights and actions.

Training everyday communication partners for individuals with traumatic brain injury: the influence of Mark Ylvisaker.

This lead article outlines some of the seminal concepts introduced by Mark Ylvisaker in collaboration with his colleague Tim Feeney and describes the influence of this work on the development of an everyday communication partner-training program for families and social networks of people with traumatic brain injury.

The positive behavioral momentum of Mark Ylvisaker.

Mark Ylvisaker inspired many people to believe they had the skills to help children and adults with brain injury live a meaningful life. He was thoroughly multidisciplinary in his approach, but also felt strongly that communication was the cornerstone of effective behavior management and that speech-language pathologists could make a unique contribution in the everyday lives of individuals with cognitive-communication disorders. This article recognizes his profound influence on the author's research, teaching, and clinical practice and was written in the spirit of paying forward the knowledge he shared.

Dogs and other metaphors: reflections on the influence of Mark Ylvisaker.

Mark Ylvisaker's death in 2009 marked the sad cessation of a prolific and rich discourse regarding what matters in brain injury rehabilitation. In this article, I reflect on how my own work has converged with and been influenced by this great thinker and doer. My own work, like Ylvisaker's, has been oriented toward finding contextually relevant ways of assessing and remediating communication and social impairments in people with severe traumatic brain injury. In this article, common themes between Ylvisaker's work and my own are explored, including the usefulness of pragmatic language theory, which helps clarify why context is important when determining whether language is appropriate or not, and also to help reveal where problems occur in the use of subtle, diplomatic, or inferred meanings. This article also reflects upon Ylvisaker's models for remediation and the extent to which these can be encompassed within (as well as shape) more traditional models of social skills training.

Mark Ylvisaker's influence on scripts, videos, and projects within a South African context.

The current article overviews a range of collaborative group projects undertaken by members of the Conversation Groups for individuals living with aphasia and cognitive-communication disorders in the Department of Communication Pathology, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Projects work toward creating networks of support and lessening barriers for the individual living with aphasia and cognitive-communication disorders. The article highlights the pervasive and far-reaching influence across continents of Professor Mark Ylvisaker's philosophy, writings, and personal teachings on both Conversation Group projects as well as student clinician-training practice in the University of Pretoria context. In addition, Ylvisaker's influence is described on the development of a collaborative communication partner-training program within a South African retail supermarket environment, highlighting the effort to remove barriers between employees and customers with a cognitive-communication disability specifically.

Clinical influences.

Mark Ylvisaker influenced a paradigm shift on approaches to assessment and intervention of individuals with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This article describes the influence of Mark Ylvisaker on my speech-language therapy practice in TBI rehabilitation, from shaping assessment research through supporting a practical, problem-solving approach to intervention. In this article, only a small selection of his therapeutic concepts and recommendations are described. The concepts selected-context and meaningfulness, collaboration, and measuring performance-are those that are pertinent to functional communication assessment. The three interventions chosen illustrate the applicability of Mark Ylvisaker's work in different contexts and across different levels of disability following TBI. They are also selected as they promote personally satisfying communication for the client and illustrate the contribution that speech-language therapy may make to TBI rehabilitation overall.

Placing brain injury rehabilitation in the context of the self and meaningful engagement.

Since his publications began to appear in the mid 1980s, Mark Ylvisaker has shaped the way clinicians worldwide approach brain injury rehabilitation. His body of work reflects his exceptional ability to draw together theories, ideas, and practices from multiple disciplines and paradigms culminating in the development of a clinically powerful framework to facilitate change in behavior. The focus of this article is two core aspects of Mark Ylvisaker's work that have had a significant impact on my own work. These aspects involve (1) using conceptualization of self or identity construction as a guide for developing rehabilitation goals and (2) centralizing meaningful activity within the intervention process. In a small way, this article is a tribute to an exceptional man who was dedicated to improving the lives of people with brain injury and in doing so succeeded in improving the lives of all who had the privilege of knowing him and knowing his work.

[Communication disorders in the practice of Department of Phoniatrics ad Audiology in Poznan]. / Zaburzenia procesu komunikatywnego w dzialalnosci poznanskiej Kliniki Foniatrii i Audiologii.

The relations between audiology and phoniatrics which formed the base for the present name of Poznan Department of Phoniatrics and Audiology are presented. It is specific for this Department to include the olfacto-gustometry into clinical evaluation of sensory organs. The periodic "Informacje Foniatryczne" which were published in 1966-1972 in our Department were exception in the history of Polish phoniatrics. The communications disorders should be inspected by rehabilitation team: phoniatrician, psychologist and logopedist, but the leading role is left for the physician. The prevention, prophylaxis and rehabilitation of professional voice disorders is one of the main social goals for audiology and phoniatrics.

Trastornos de la comunicación por traumatismo craneoencefálico / Communication disorders due to cranioencephalic traumatism

Los autores, tras una breve referencia histórica sobre la relación entre los traumatismos craneoencefálicos y las alteraciones de la comunicación, exponen algunas consideraciones etiopatogénicas, fisiopatológicas, clínicas, diagnósticas y terapéuticas sobre el tema (AU)

Historical issues in intervention research: hidden knowledge and facilitating techniques in Denmark.

Facilitating techniques have recently both gained wider popularity and stirred considerable controversy. They are usually assumed to originate in Australia but the present paper documents that similar techniques created a major public event in Denmark and appeared occasionally in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s. However, in spite of the dramatic claims made by proponents of the techniques, their use did not spread widely and the international network has remained tenuous. It is argued that the "discovery' of facilitating techniques as a means to disclose unexpected literacy depends on the use of hand guidance and a context of professional beliefs where responses of unclear origin may be attributed to the person whose hand is being guided.