McGreevy, Fry, and Cornwall (2014) developed an assessment within the Essential for Living (EFL) manual for clinicians to identify which communication modality should be used for each individual. This assessment identifies an AAC based on the learner’s skills, level of problem behavior, similarities between AAC and vocal community, and size of the verbal community. However, to date, no research has evaluated if this assessment identifies the communication modality that will result in faster acquisition of mands in individuals with ASD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare acquisition of mands across a modality identified by the EFL communication modality assessment and two other commonly used modalities. A secondary purpose was to determine if participants acquire mands using the mode of AAC identified by EFL. Finally, a third purpose was to determine if the communication modality identified by EFL communication modality assessment matches the modality currently used by the individual. Findings showed that although all three participants acquired mands across the three communication modalities, mands in the modality of communication recommended by the EFL assessment were acquired faster only by 1 out of the 3 participants.

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.

There have been few studies conducted on how children from other than Western populations perceive and learn different graphic symbol sets or systems, especially on how children from poverty contexts learn graphic alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) symbols. Multicultural research is necessary in order to advance and to ensure the quality of the service of AAC for culturally and linguistically diverse AAC users. In the present study the authors strive to describe the learnability of the Blissymbol system in a non-western culture using a semiotic theoretical framework. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the iconicity and learnability of the Blissymbol system for Kenyan children with two different language backgrounds, Swahili and English. This was done in an attempt to investigate potential cultural and linguistic influences of the interpretation and learnability of the Blissymbol. The design and test material was adopted from a previous study (Jennische & Zetterlund, 2012). In the present study, 127 typically developed children in the age six to seven in class one or two in primary school, both from private and public schools, participated. The children had never before encountered Bliss. The children were asked to interpret single Bliss-words and compound Bliss-words, first spontaneously through giving free proposals and then after being given an instructive explanation. The test results were analyzed on a group level and compared between the different groups (age, class and language background). The results show that there was a significant improvement between the pretest and the posttest for all children in the different groups. This indicates that the Blissymbols used in this study had a generally low transparency but a generally high translucency. The results also indicate a generally high learnability and that the children were aided by the instructive explanation. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the different groups, where the children from class two performed better than children from class one and where the English-speaking children performed better than the Swahili-speaking children overall. Age was not significant. The results also indicate that there were differences in how the children interpreted the symbols, but that there were similarities within the specific groups. Further, this indicates that the symbols were interpreted in a similar way by children that belonged to the same age, language and socioeconomic background.

Submitted by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2018-03-21T18:19:06Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação - Mateus Alves Saraiva.pdf: 4124344 bytes, checksum: 1f52f40f0e4a240b6edc7d24f47218e9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2018-03-21T18:19:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação - Mateus Alves Saraiva.pdf: 4124344 bytes, checksum: 1f52f40f0e4a240b6edc7d24f47218e9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-21T18:19:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação - Mateus Alves Saraiva.pdf: 4124344 bytes, checksum: 1f52f40f0e4a240b6edc7d24f47218e9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-16 / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas State, is located at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers, where the Amazonas River forms. The city is the most populous in the state of Amazonas, with 2,020,301 inhabitants, and a population growth of 33% in each decade, on average. In it, was established in the 1950s, the Free Trade Zone of Manaus, which made possible the structuring of an expressive industrial pole. Currently, this polo has 488 industries, according to the Superintendência da Zona Franca de Manaus (SUFRAMA), mostly technology and motorcycle manufacturers, responsible for the generation of approximately 110 thousand direct jobs, collaborating with 1.4% of National GDP. Under all this activity is the Alter do Chão Aquifer (ACA), inserted in the Alter do Chão Formation, consisting of intercalations of sandy, silty, clayey and conglomeratic layers. The ACA has a varied thickness and permeability, reaching, in Manaus, a maximum thickness of 190 m. The city of Manaus has almost 3,000 wells registered in the Sistema de Informação de Águas Subterrâneas (SIAGAS), and are estimated more than six thousand clandestine wells. Several factors led to the intensive use of groundwater: the intense use by the industry of the Manaus Industrial Pole; water distribution network that does not fully cover the city; faults and interruptions in supply; the former water poor quality distributed by the public system (problem currently healed); an intense increase of the population of the city allied to the deficit network. These factors lead to the discussion about the sustainability of the current use of ACA in Manaus. The main objective of this work was to understand the current panorama and dynamics of the uses and groundwater flow, evaluated possible changes caused by anthropic factors, such as the increase and decrease in the number of wells, and by natural factors such as the occurrence of climatic extremes and the decrease trend in annual rainfall. / Manaus, a capital do estado do Amazonas, situa-se na confluência dos rios Negro e Solimões, onde se forma o rio Amazonas. A cidade é a mais populosa do Estado do Amazonas, com 2.020.301 habitantes, e um crescimento populacional de 33% a cada década, em média. Nela foi implantada, na década de 1950, a Zona Franca de Manaus, que possibilitou a estruturação de um polo industrial expressivo. Atualmente, este polo conta com 488 indústrias, segundo a Superintendência da Zona Franca de Manaus (SUFRAMA), em sua maioria nas áreas de tecnologia e montadoras de motocicletas, responsáveis pela geração de aproximadamente 110 mil empregos diretos, colaborando com 1,4% do PIB nacional. Sob toda esta atividade está o Aquífero Alter do Chão (AAC), inserido na Formação Alter do Chão, constituída por intercalações de camadas arenosas, siltosas, argilosas e conglomeráticas. O AAC possui permeabilidade e espessuras variadas, atingindo, em Manaus, uma espessura máxima de 190 m. A cidade de Manaus possui quase 3.000 poços cadastrados no Sistema de Informação de Águas Subterrâneas (SIAGAS), e são estimados mais de seis mil poços clandestinos. Vários fatores levaram ao uso intensivo de água subterrânea: a intensa utilização por parte da indústria do Polo Industrial de Manaus; malha da rede de distribuição de água que não abrange a cidade por completo; falhas e interrupções do abastecimento; a antiga má qualidade da água distribuída pelo sistema público (problema atualmente sanado); aumento intenso da população da cidade aliado à malha deficitária. Estes fatores levam à discussão sobre a sustentabilidade do atual uso do AAC na cidade de Manaus. Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal compreender o panorama e a dinâmica atual dos usos e fluxo da água subterrânea, avaliou possíveis alterações ocasionadas por fatores antrópicos, como o aumento e diminuição do número de poços, e por fatores naturais, como a ocorrência de extremos climáticos e a tendência no decréscimo da pluviosidade anual.

The purpose of this study was to determine what perceptual differences existed between a natural recorded human voice and a synthetic voice that was created to sound like the same voice. This process was meant to mimic the differences between a voice that would be used for Message Banking and a voice that would be created by the ModelTalker system. Forty speech pathology graduate students (mean age = 23 years) rated voices on clarity, naturalness, pleasantness, and overall similarity. Analysis of data showed that the natural human voice was consistently rated as more natural, clear, and pleasant. In addition, participants generally rated the two voices as very different. This demonstrates that, at least in terms of perception, using the method of Message Banking results in a voice that is overall perceived more positively than the voice created using ModelTalker.

There has been limited research done to determine the impact of the use of colour on communication displays in the facilitation of graphic symbol location within an overlay. As many Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems are pictorial in nature, it is of importance that interventionists are aware of the potential impact that colour can have on the accuracy and rate of symbol location. The present study is based on a study by Wilkinson, Carlin and Jagaroo (2006) and used the same testing material (colour conditions) whilst modifying the type of exposure to these colour conditions. This study investigated the effect of sequential exposure of colour conditions on the rate and accuracy of graphic symbol location. The study used a comparative, non-experimental group design using sixty participants who conformed to specific selection criteria. Each participant was exposed to three colour conditions that were placed in a specific sequential order. The participants were required to match a target, graphic symbol within an array of symbols in the differing colour conditions. Two different types of graphic symbols were used meaningful (Type A) and arbitrary (Type B). Two different colour sets were also used with the colour conditions varying in each set. Set 1 were the sequentially ordered colour conditions of same colour, mixed colour and unique colour symbols (difficult to easy) while Set 2 were the sequentially ordered colour conditions of unique colour, mixed colour and same colour symbols (easy to difficult). The major findings of the study were as follows. In terms of rate, there was a significant interaction noted between the two symbol types and their sequential ordering. The time taken (rate) for the location of the nonreferential forms was slower than that taken for the meaningful symbols. The reasoning behind this result could be that the non-referential forms were not as familiar to the participants as the meaningful symbols were. Thus, the rate recording of the meaningful symbols and the non-referential forms described in the three colour conditions was different and could be noted in the results. In terms of accuracy, a significant impact was noted between the two symbol types when the first manner of sequential ordering was used, however, there were no significant differences noted when the second manner of sequential ordering was used. This implies greater accuracy was recorded when the second manner of sequential ordering was used as this ordering appeared to be “visually easier” for the location of symbols. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to teach preschool children with autism spectrum disorders to make requests with a speech generating device using a naturalistic time delay prompting procedure. The participants in this study were two males, enrolled in a public preschool program, between four and five years old. Both participants showed significant delays in expressive communication requiring alternative and augmented communication. The study utilized a multiple probe design across behaviors. Results showed utilizing naturalistic time delay increases independent requests using a speech generating device.

Background: Some children with ASD have comprehension difficulties that affect their ability to follow directives that contain prepositions. Aided input has been known to facilitate improved comprehension skills when spoken language is used with graphic symbols. Aims: This study examined the effects that aided input presented at two levels (20% of aided input and 60% of aided input) has on children with ASD’s following of directives that contain prepositions. Methods: An experimental, within-subjects crossover design was utilised where all participants were exposed to each treatment condition at a different time period. Altogether 21 participants between 5.0 and 11.11 years of age were asked to follow 12 directives using aided input at two conditions. Participants first completed a pre-test task to confirm their noun knowledge, preposition knowledge and matching skills. Participants were described based on the CARS classification and their PPVT-4 scores. The effects of the aided input were measured and compared based on the accuracy of responses. Results: Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data, and multivariate analysis was used to analyse the data. Some children with ASD (n=9) who received a higher level of aided input (60%) were able to respond more accurately than those who received a lower level of aided input (20%). However, some children with ASD (n=4) responded more accurately to the lower level of aided input (20%) than the higher level of aided input (60%). Some children with ASD (n=5) responded in the same manner for both levels of aided input and some children with ASD (n=3) did not respond at all despite the level of aided input. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the higher (60%) and lower (20%) levels of aided input. Conclusion: It was concluded that the 60% aided input level yielded a higher accuracy of responses than the 20% aided input level in some children with ASD. In addition, the results suggest that augmenting spoken language was advantageous in some children with ASD. However, further research is needed to better describe the effects of aided input, using graphic symbols. Future research directions are suggested. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / MA / Unrestricted

No description available.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) provides many individuals who have little or no functional speech with a means to enter the world of communication. Aided and/or unaided symbols are used as a means of reception and expression to create shared meaning. The selection of an appropriate symbol set/system is vital and iconicity plays a central role in this process. The Western-based symbol set, Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) (Johnson, 1981), is readily available and widely used in South Africa, despite little information existing on its iconicity to South African populations with disabilities. This study aimed to determine the iconicity of Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) for children with English Additional Language (EAL) and intellectual disability. A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive design was used. Thirty participants between the ages of 12;00 and 15;11 (years; months) with EAL and intellectual disability were required to identify 16 PCS presented thematically on a ‘bed-making’ communication overlay in response to a gloss read out by the researcher. The results indicated that, overall, the 16 PCS were relatively iconic to the participants. The results also indicated that the iconicity of PCS can be manipulated and enhanced and that it can be influenced by other PCS that are used simultaneously on the communication overlay. The reasons for these findings are described. The clinical and theoretical implications of this study’s results are discussed, followed by a critical evaluation of this study and, finally, recommendations for future research are suggested. / Dissertation (Master of Arts)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted