User Centred Design is accepted as being essential to good software design, only by involving the users throughout the development process can the developers understand what the end users really want (Sharp et al., 2007). One area which has in the past had little experience of User Centred Design is Assistive Technology, and in particular Augmentative and Alternative Communication software (Waller et al., 2005a). Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) offer the possibility of being able to access communication for people with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments.This thesis describes a software development study which investigated methods currently used in software development and how they could be adapted for use with this population. The way difficulties cited in the literature when working with this population were tackled are also discussed. The study involved four adults with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments in the User Centred Development of a piece of assistive software.The study found that with careful planning it was possible to conduct User Centred Design with participants with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments, the lessons from this study were translated into recommendations and provided to a second developer who wished to work with adults with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments. The second study found similar levels of contribution to the features of the software were found in the pilot study. This work has demonstrated the potential for adults with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments to be actively involved (i.e. contribute a high proportion of the features) in the development of Augmentative and Alternative Communication software. A number of areas for further investigation have been identified including the differences found in usability of devices developed using User Centred Design compared to traditional methods, and also how adults with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments can be more actively included in a range of research fields.

Having a meaningful system for expressing common needs and thoughts is important for overall quality of life for students with intellectual disability and limited expressive language. The current study was conducted to evaluate whether one communication system, Proloquo2Go ($249.99) or SwiftKey Symbols (FREE), is more effective in the acquisition of targeted expressive phrases in one student with intellectual disability who exhibited expressive communication difficulties. The student was provided with instruction in both systems using task analytic instruction and system of least prompting and encouraged to use each system at different times in a single case, alternating treatment design. Results indicated that Proloquo2Go led to faster acquisition of targeted phrases, although gains were shown with both devices. Although, given the cost difference, teachers and parents may want to consider free options, like SwiftKeys, given the student made gains with this device. Future research is needed to provide generalizability of these results.

Music therapists frequently work with clients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). The purpose of this study was to gather information on music therapists’ current experiences with AAC training as well as music therapists’ perceptions of their own communication abilities when communicating with clients who have ASD using their preferred AAC system. The researcher invited 7,279 board-certified music therapists to participate in this study via email, of which 366 completed the survey. Participants reported most often providing services to children and adolescents with ASD, and frequently using electronic AAC and electronic apps with their clients with ASD. The majority (71.2%) of participants stated that they would like additional training in the use of AAC. Of the music therapists who had participated in previous AAC training, many had received training at work or by an SLP or other certified professional. Results of this study provide information about the current practices and perceptions of board-certified music therapists working with clients with ASD.

Literacy development in Spanish-speaking children is a growing concern in the United States (Invernizzi, 2009). Phonological awareness is a predictor of literacy achievement in most alphabetic languages (Anthony et al., 2011; Davison & Brea-Spahn, 2012; Durgunoğlu, Nagy, & Hancin-Bhatt, 1993; Goikoetxea, 2005). Bilingual children with complex communication needs (CCN) demonstrate increased difficulties in speaking, reading, and writing, making learning two languages a difficult task (Toppelberg, Snow, & Tager-Flusberg, 1999). Literacy attainment in bilingual individuals who have CCN is important to improve their overall language development and communication interaction skills (Harrison-Harris, 2002). A valid and reliable phonological awareness assessment that does not require speech is needed in order to provide appropriate instruction and address desired literacy goals (Barker, Bridges, & Saunders, 2014). The goal of this study is to describe pilot data from the Dynamic Assessment of Phonemic Awareness in Spanish (DAPA-S), a new dynamic phonological awareness assessment that does not require speech responses, with children from Latin American Spanish-speaking backgrounds, in order to determine its construct validity. DAPA-S was administered over the course of one to three sessions to ten participants (six males and four females). Participants also received the Identificación de letras y palabras (Letter-Word Identification; LWID) subscale from the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey–Revised (WMLS-R; Woodcock, Muñoz- Sandoval, Ruef, & Alvarado, 2005) as an emergent reading skill task and three subtests from the Test of Phonological Sensitivity in Spanish (TOPSS; Brea, Silliman, Bahr, & Bryant, 2003):letter-name and letter-sound, elision, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) as assessments of phonological awareness. To evaluate concurrent validity, Pearson correlations and bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals were calculated between the DAPA-S total score and the measures of phonological awareness from the TOPSS. The DAPA-S demonstrated strong and significant correlations with elision, RAN, and the letter-sound subtests rs = –.67 to .87, ps = .00 to .03. These results indicated that the DAPA-S likely measured the same construct as the other measures of phonological awareness from the TOPSS. To evaluate convergent validity, Pearson correlations and bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals were calculated between LWID of the WMLS-R and the DAPA-S total score. The DAPA-S demonstrated a strong and significant correlation, r = .75, p < .05. The data suggest a high degree of both concurrent and convergent validity, as many of the conventional measures of phonological awareness and emergent reading were significantly correlated with the DAPA-S, including letter-sound, RAN, and LWID. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that the DAPA-S may be a reliable and valid tool for measurement of phonological awareness in Spanish.

The purposes of this qualitative inquiry were as follows: (a) to understand how mothers of children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems in the home, (b) to capture their views regarding AAC use, and (c) to examine the support they received in the process. Data was collected using participant observations, semi-structured interviews and review of archival educational records and were analyzed using grounded theory methods. Results revealed that for children with FXS, the interplay of children’s complex developmental challenges, mothers’ internal struggles, and the absence of external supports leads to limited and variable use of AAC in the home.

Children with autism often experience substantial impairments in the domain of language and communication. Speech generating device (SGD) is one of the widely used augmentative communication systems with this population. The most prevalent speech output systems currently in use with SGDs are digitized and synthetic speech outputs. Advantages and disadvantages of each speech output system exist, and large individual differences in-terms of preference and performance have been speculated in both modalities. There is currently no published research that compares digitized and synthetic speech outputs. The primary goal of this study is to examine the effects of SGD training using digitized vs. synthetic speech outputs on the acquisition of requesting skills of 4 non-verbal children diagnosed with autism. The study addressed the following research questions. First, are there differences in acquisition rates for requests taught using digitized vs. synthetic speech outputs? Second, do children show a preference for one speech output over other? Finally, Are there any differences in perceived social validity of digitized vs. synthetic speech outputs? The primary findings of this study were: (1) Differences in the performance were found between two of the participants within each speech output; (2) two of the participants appeared to prefer one speech output over other and one participant could not indicate his preference due to positioning bias; (3) social validity measures indicated favorable ratings for SGD training but no clear indications in-terms of acceptability and usability of speech outputs across different settings. The overall results obtained from this study suggest that speech output can play a significant role, and it is one of the important components that can contribute to the success of the intervention. Additionally, overall outcome suggests that non-verbal children with autism can successfully learn to use the SGDs at their own pace with the support of proper prompting strategies and instructional procedures. / text

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur Karlstadmodellen och TAKK (Tecken somAlternativ och Kompletterande Kommunikation) kan användas i förskoleverksamheten för attfrämja hela barngruppens språkutveckling.De metoder som har används för att undersöka och svara på frågeställningen är intervju ochenkätundersökning. Det gjordes tre olika intervjuer. En med en mamma till ett barn demDowns syndrom och som även är certifierad handledare i Karlstadmodellen. En med enbarnskötare som arbetat med ett barns språkutveckling med hjälp av Karlstadmodellen. Ochden tredje intervjun gjordes med tre sjuksköterskor på Barnavårdscentralen.Enkätundersökningen skickades ut till 16 förskolor och 14 svarade. Detta genererade i 56besvarade enkäter. På så vis blir det totala bortfallet 13 obesvarade enkäter.I resultatet framkom det att man i Karlstadmodellen och TAKK arbetar med ett nätverk kringdet barn som är i behov av stöd. Detta är troligen något som skulle vara svårt att applicera påen hel barngrupp. Däremot finns det modeller likande TAKK som är anpassade för barngrupp.Respondenterna från två av intervjuerna anser att man skulle kunna använda sig utav vissalekar från Karlstadmodellen till hela barngruppen. / The purpose with this study is to examine how The Karlstad model and Signs and AlternativeCommunication can be used in preschool to help the whole group of children with theirlanguage development.The methods that have been used to examine and answer all the questions is interviews andquestionnaire. There were three different interviews made. The first interview was with amother to a child with Down syndrome, who is also a certified mentor in the Karlstad model.The next person to be interviewed was a caretaker of children who works with children’slanguage development with help from the Karlstad model. And the third interviewed wasmade with three nurses at the children’s care center.The questionnaire was sent to 16 preschools and 14 of them replied. This generated in 56answered questionnaires.The result shows that those who use The Karlstad model and Signs and AlternativeCommunication work with a network around the child in need of support. This is probablysomething that would be hard to work with in a group of children in preschool. But there ismodels like Signs and Alternative Communication who is adjusted for child groups. Therespondents from two of the interviews consider that some games from the Karlstad modelcan be used for a whole group of children.

Submitted by VANESSA APARECIDA MARIANO PELUCCIO null (nessa_peluccio@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-04-05T22:06:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Vanessa Peluccio de Azevedo.pdf: 1773209 bytes, checksum: e92c1830d5a5b5dc127f39b84dafc983 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br) on 2018-04-06T13:12:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 azevedo_vap_dr_mar.pdf: 1773209 bytes, checksum: e92c1830d5a5b5dc127f39b84dafc983 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-06T13:12:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 azevedo_vap_dr_mar.pdf: 1773209 bytes, checksum: e92c1830d5a5b5dc127f39b84dafc983 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-28 / Não recebi financiamento / As pesquisas a respeito do uso da comunicação suplementar e alternativa na escola tem sido uma constante principalmente na busca de um ensino que seja significativo e que promova a aprendizagem. Diante disso há discussões importantes sobre o ensino da leitura e da escrita para alunos comunicadores alternativos e ainda como os recursos da CSA podem contribuir para o processo de alfabetização desse alunado. Nesse processo a narrativa é uma ferramenta fundamental, narrar faz parte do cotidiano das pessoas, seja como narrador ou como ouvinte no reconto de uma história que alguém leu ou gostou, do comentário sobre o personagem de um filme ou novela ou da narração de fatos da vida. Crianças com o diagnóstico de paralisia cerebral e comprometimentos de fala podem ter experiências limitadas com o narrar por diferentes fatores, entre eles, o neurológico, a acuidade visual, as habilidades cognitivas, controle postural, desenvolvimento motor e a intenção comunicativa. Nesse contexto, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi: Analisar as narrativas de alunos com paralisia cerebral usuários de sistemas suplementares e alternativos de comunicação com diferentes interlocutores. Este estudo utilizou a tarefa de narração de vídeos de uma pesquisa transcultural pesquisa com a participação de 16 países, a qual a coleta de dados foi realizada entre os anos de 2011 e 2014. Foram selecionados 5 participantes de um dos grupos do estudo maior, com idades variando entre 9 e 14 anos, todos com o diagnóstico de paralisia cerebral e seus parceiros de comunicação. Na tarefa de vídeo os alunos tinham que assistir vídeos e conseguir recontá-los para os parceiros, no total foram selecionadas 3 tarefas com cada interlocutor (mãe, profissional e colega), os critérios de escolha das tarefas foram: um vídeo com uma cena comum e presente no cotidiano dos alunos; vídeo com uma cena absurda; vídeo com uma duração maior e uma sequência de dois eventos. Para a análise dos dados foram estabelecidas categorias e subcategorias: habilidades expressivas, elementos linguísticos, estratégias de mediação e o reconto do vídeo pelo interlocutor. Os resultados mostraram que para contar os vídeos os alunos utilizaram diferentes habilidades de expressão, com uma frequência maior do uso do símbolo gráfico seguido dos gestos, também houve uma variedade com relação ao interlocutor, com as mães uso maior foram dos gestos, com os profissionais foi o sistema gráfico e com os colegas não houve uma predileção por uma habilidade em específico. Os elementos linguísticos utilizados em maior quantidade foram os substantivos e os verbos. A estratégia de mediação mais utilizada foram as perguntas relacionadas seguida das informações repetidas e com isso os interlocutores conseguiram na maioria das tarefas recontar toda ou parte da história. Elas podem ser ferramentas importantes no trabalho em sala de aula com a narrativa e alunos comunicadores alternativos poderão se beneficiar da mediação para realizar atividades envolvendo a narrativa. / Research on the use of supplementary and alternative communication in school has been a constant in the search for teaching that is meaningful and promotes learning. Faced with this, there are important discussions about the teaching of reading and writing for alternative communicating students and also how the resources of the CSA can contribute to the literacy process of this pupil. In this process the narrative is a fundamental tool, to narrate is part of the daily life of the people, either as a narrator or as a listener in the retelling of a story that someone has read or liked, commentary on the character of a movie or novel or the narration of facts of the life. Children with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy and speech impairments may have limited experiences with narrating by different factors, including neurological, visual acuity, cognitive abilities, postural control, motor development, and communicative intent. In this context, the objective of this research was: To analyze the narratives of students with cerebral palsy users of supplementary and alternative systems of communication with different interlocutors. This study used the task of video narration of a cross-cultural research survey with the participation of 16 countries, which collected data between the years of 2011 and 2014. Five participants were selected from one of the larger study groups, with ages ranging from 9 to 14 years, all diagnosed with cerebral palsy and their communication partners. In the video task the students had to watch videos and manage to retell them for the partners, in total 3 tasks were selected with each interlocutor (mother, professional and colleague), the criteria for choosing the tasks were: a video with a common scene and present in the students' daily lives; video with an absurd scene; video with a longer duration and a sequence of two events. For the data analysis, categories and subcategories were established: expressive abilities, linguistic elements, and strategies of mediation and the retelling of the video by the interlocutor. The results showed that to count the videos the students used different expression abilities, with a higher frequency of the use of the graphic symbol followed by the gestures, there was also a variety with regard to the interlocutor, with the mothers greater use were the gestures, with the professionals was the graphic system and with colleagues there was a predilection for a specific skill. The linguistic elements used in greater quantity were the nouns and the verbs. The most used mediation strategy was the related questions followed by the repeated information and with this the interlocutors were able to retell all or part of the story on most tasks. They can be important tools in classroom work with narrative and alternative communicating students may benefit from mediation to engage in narrative activities.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo geral compreender como ocorre o processo de comunicação de pessoas com surdocegueira congênita a partir da produção e do uso de recursos de comunicação alternativa. Foram utilizados como referencial teórico os estudos de Maia (2004, 2011), Galvão (2010), Keller (2008), Cormedi (2011, 2012), Cambruzzi (2007) e Silva (2012). Para conhecimento do campo teórico, foram realizadas buscas nas plataformas: Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Educação (ANPEd), Banco de Teses e Dissertações da CAPES e SciELO. Essas buscas ocorreram em tessitura com a prospecção de dados sobre a matrícula de alunos com surdocegueira em escolas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, a partir das informações constantes no site do Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira (INEP) e do contato com a Secretaria de Educação Especial do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (SEDUC), com a Fundação de Articulação e Desenvolvimento de Políticas Públicas para Pessoas com Deficiência e com Altas Habilidades no Rio Grande do Sul (FADERS) e com gestores de municípios. A partir das informações obtidas dos dados do INEP, foram selecionadas duas crianças com surdocegueira congênita. Em consequência, suas famílias e professoras também foram envolvidas na pesquisa. Os critérios de seleção foram ser uma criança com surdocegueira e estar matriculada nos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental de alguma escola do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. A metodologia de pesquisa constituiu-se por 10 encontros com os alunos na escola. A fim de identificar estratégias e recursos utilizados em situações comunicativas, foram utilizados quatro instrumentos: construção de mapas, visitas realizadas nas casas das crianças, entrevistas com as professoras e observações. Os resultados das observações evidenciaram que os mediadores: família e professoras tinham formas de se comunicar com as crianças, algumas ações e reações eram percebidas com sentido e significado, mas não havia reconhecimento disso. Essas formas de comunicação expressiva e receptiva precisavam ser reconhecidas como tal pelos interlocutores. As crianças estavam em momentos diferentes do processo comunicacional. A menina se valia da baixa visão para a comunicação, e o menino, dos demais sentidos (principalmente, tato e olfato). Esta pesquisa proporcionou diversos aprendizados, entre eles: compreender que a comunicação muitas vezes precisa ser descoberta pelo mediador, pois as crianças oferecem indícios e possibilidades comunicacionais a serem reconhecidas e nomeadas; existem diferentes recursos que podem ser utilizados pelas e com as crianças; as famílias dispõem de formas de comunicação e informações sobre as crianças que podem auxiliar no processo de comunicação. A pesquisa também indica a importância do uso da comunicação alternativa por meio de objetos de referência e fotografias no sistema de calendários, organizando a rotina e proporcionando a antecipação das atividades e das ações das crianças. / This research aimed to understand how the communication process happens between people with congenital deafblindness, as of the production and use of alternative communication resources. The utilized theoretical references were the studies of Maia (2004, 2011), Galvão (2010), Keller (2008), Cormedi (2011, 2012), Cambruzzi (2007) and Silva (2012). For the theoretical field knowledge, the following searches were performed on the platforms: National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Education (Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Educação - ANPEd), Theses and Dissertations Bank of CAPES (Banco de Teses e Dissertações da CAPES) and SciELO. Those searches were intervened with the data collection on the enrollment of students with deafblindness in schools in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, from the information contained in INEP's (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira) website and from the contacts with the Department of Special Education of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (SEDUC), the Foundation for Articulation and Development of Public Policies for People with Disabilities and with High Abilities in Rio Grande do Sul (FADERS) and with public managers of municipalities. From the information obtained from INEP data, two children with congenital deafblindness were selected. As a result, their families and teachers were also involved in the research. The selection criteria were to be a child with deafblindness and to be enrolled in the initial years of the Elementary School of any school in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The methodology consisted of 10 meetings with the students at school. In order to identify strategies and resources used in communicative situations, we used four instruments: map construction, visits in the children's homes, interviews with teachers and observations. The results of the observations showed that the mediators family and teachers have their own ways of communicating with children; some actions and reactions were perceived with meaning and significance, but there was no recognition of it. These forms of expressive and receptive communication needed to be recognized as such by the interlocutors. The children were at different times of the communicational process. The girl took advantage of the low vision for communication, and the boy used the other senses (mainly touch and smell). This research has provided several lessons, such as: understanding that communication often needs to be discovered by the mediator, because children provide evidence and communicational possibilities to be recognized and named; there are different features that can be used by and with the children; the families have forms of communication and information about the children which can assist in the communication process. The research also indicates the importance of using the alternative communication by means of reference objects and pictures in the calendar system, which organizes the children's routine and enables their anticipation of activities and actions.

The purpose of paper is to describe a rationale for training staff who work with others with disabilities to use Assistive Technology devices. Current literature describes reasons that Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices are not used based on cost, satisfaction, and difficulty in evaluation. Devices are often abandoned due to ineffective training and increased response effort to operate the device. Previous research on training others to use AT devices is reviewed. A popular behavioral perspective continues to be Behavioral Skills Training. By comparing BST to other common methods of device set up, the current study demonstrates the effectiveness of a BST package.