No description available.

<p> A microprocessor driven display was built and programmed for the storage and reproduction of Bliss symbols. An explanation is offered for the success of the symbol language in teaching the handicapped. </p> <p> The hardware was designed to be inexpensive enough for classroom use, but still deliver adequate flexibility and resolution. Due to the complexity and variety of the symbols a method of data compaction was developed to reduce the required storage space. </p> <p> Initial tests are presented and suggestions are made for continuing the work. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

The Center for Disease Control estimates that one in 88 births result in a diagnosis of autism (CDC, 2012). Of those individuals diagnosed with autism approximately 25-61% fail to develop vocal output capabilities (Weitxz, Dexter, & Moore, 1997). The use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems, such as Picture Exchange (PE) and Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCA) has been demonstrated as effective for those individuals to acquire a mand repertoire (Mirenda, 2003). The focus of the current study was to compare mand acquisition using PE and the iPad as a VOCA, in terms of acquisition rate and participant device preference, and with regard to collateral effects on vocalizations and disruptive behaviors. Additionally, the study evaluated the effectiveness of a teaching strategy using constant time delay with full-physical prompts (Sigafoos, Doss, & Reichel, 1989) in the acquisition of a mand repertoire using PE and the iPad as a VOCA, in five preschool aged children with autism. Finally, the devices were assessed in terms of their social validity. Three participants acquired the ability to communicate using the iPad as a VOCA more readily and two participants acquired the ability to communicate more quickly using PE, while the overall rate of independent manding was higher for four participants using the VOCA. The results of the study also indicate that the use of a constant time delay procedure with full-physical prompts was effective in the acquisition of both PE and the VOCA device. Regarding preference, four participants demonstrated a clear preference for the VOCA device and one for PE, when presented with the option to respond with either device. With respect to collateral effects, the data were largely inconclusive. For one participant there was an overall increase in vocalizations, for one participant there was an overall decrease in vocalizations, for the remaining three there was no systematic change in their rate of vocalizations during or following communication training. Regarding disruptive behaviors, an overall decrease in the occurrence was seen for two participants, for the remaining three the rates of occurrence did not change systematically following communication training. Finally, in terms of social validity, both the VOCA device and PE were found to be acceptable communication tools, with educators reporting that they would not only include such training within their classroom routines, but would also recommend its use in the future. / Educational Psychology

Antalet personer insjuknade i demenssjukdom stiger, från 25 miljoner år 2000 till vad som beräknas uppgå till 63 miljoner år 2030. Demens kan beskrivas som en global störning av intellektuella funktioner där den kognitiva förmågan inklusive kommunikation är påverkad. Högtekonologiska hjälpmedel som kommunikativt stöd för personer med demens är i nuläget ett outforskat område med begränsad evidens där få studier har genomförts.Syftet med föreliggande studie var att kartlägga vilka samtalsfenomen som förekom mellan en person med demens och dennes samtalspartners med och utan surfplatta med applikationen Book Creator. Ytterligare ett syfte var att undersöka en av samtalspartnernas upplevelse av att kommunicera med personen med demens. Studien genomfördes på ett boende för personer med demenssjukdom där sammanlagt nio samtal spelades in, sex samtal utan surfplatta med applikationen Book Creator och tre samtal med surfplatta med applikationen Book Creator. Materialet omfattade 2 h och 25 min och transkriberades enligt samtalsanalytiska principer med fokus på specifika samtalsfenomen. Fem fenomen identifierades; initiativtagande, gemensam grund, koherens, ofullständig gemensam grund och icke-koherens. Frekvensen av dessa förekommande fenomen kalkylerades i procent i förhållande till det totala antalet talarturer.Resultaten visade att de samtalsfenomen som inbegrep ofullständig gemensam grund och icke-koherens med en marginell skillnad förekom i mindre frekvens i samtal med applikationen Book Creator. Personen med demens tog initiativ i lika hög utsträckning i samtal med och utan applikationen och det föreföll slutligen inte föreligga några skillnader avseende gemensam grund och koherens mellan deltagarna i samtalet med respektive utan applikationen. Det kunde även urskiljas att personen med demens kunde hantera applikationen Book Creator på egen hand med visst stöd. Samtalspartnerns upplevelser av kommunikativa svårigheter hos personer med demens, strategier för att bemöta dessa och ett behov av ökad utbildning om kommunikativt bemötande ligger i linje med tidigare forskning. / The number of people who are affected by dementia is expected to increase, from 25 million in the year 2000 to approximately 63 million in the year 2030. Dementia can be described as a global disorder of intellectual functions, where the cognitive ability including communication is affected. High technological communication aids that support people with dementia in their communication are currently an underexplored area with limited evidence. The aim of the present study was to identify interactional phenomena occurring in interaction involving one person with dementia with and without a tablet with the application Book Creator. A further aim was to examine how the conversation partner experienced the communication of the person with dementia. The study was conducted in a residential care facility for people with dementia where a total of nine conversations were recorded, six conversations without the application and three conversations with the application. The material comprised 2 hours and 25 minutes and was transcribed according to Conversation Analytic principles. Five phenomena were identified: initiative, common ground, coherence, incomplete common ground and non-coherence. The frequency of occurrence of these phenomena was calculated in percentage of their occurrence in relation to total number of turns.The result in the present study indicated that the interactional phenomena involving incomplete common ground and non-coherence occurred in a reduced frequency in conversations with the application Book Creator. The person with dementia took the initiative to the same extent in interactions with and without the application. There appeared to be no differences regarding common ground and coherence between the participants in the conversation with and without the application. The analysis also revealed that the person with dementia could handle the tablet with the application Book Creator on her own with some support. The results are in accordance with research regarding communicative difficulties in people with dementia, strategies to address these difficulties and the need of increased training in communicative treatment in dementia.

<p>Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur ett barn, som använder ett datorbase­rat grafiskt kommunikationshjälpmedel (Tellus), med hjälp av reparationer löser lokala kommunikativa problem i samarbete med människor i sin omgivning. Barnet har video­filmats i vardagliga naturligt förekommande aktiviteter – skola och hem. Som analys­metod har Conversation Analysis (CA) använts. Resultaten visar att reparationer är en typ av resurser för deltagarna att, bland annat, skapa samförstånd genom att förtydliga oklarheter och missförstånd i samtalet. Reparationssekvenserna är ofta långa, och leder till inskottssekvenser i samtalet, men har en viktig interaktionell betydelse för att uppnå samförstånd. Analysen visar även att kommunikation med datorbaserad AKK är mul­timodal, trots att datorn är barnets primära kommunikationshjälpmedel. Exempelvis används tecken, gester och ljud för att markera fel och för att visa upp känslor. Aktivi­teten och datorns placering påverkar också interaktionen. I skolan används datorn oftare som en traditionell kommunikationskarta. Detta beror till stor del på att samtalspartnern sitter på ett sådant sätt att det barnet gör med datorn blir synligt för båda. Forskning som belyser reparationer i denna typ av AKK-samtal saknas. Denna studie kommer förhopp­ningsvis att skapa intresse för fortsatt forskning som, med ett interaktionellt synsätt, identifierar och beskriver fungerande kommunikativa praktiker i AKK-samtal.</p> / <p>The main purpose of this study is to describe how a child, who uses a computer based graphical communication aid (Tellus), with the help of repairs resolves local communi­cative problems in cooperation with people in the immediate surroundings. The child has been videotaped in natural occurring activities – school and home. Conversation Analysis (CA) has been used as a method. The results show that repairs are a set of re­sources for the participants to, among other things, create mutual understanding by clarifying ambiguities and misunderstandings in the talk. The sequences of repair are often long, and lead to inserted sequences in the talk, but have an important interac­tional meaning in achieving mutual understanding. The analysis also shows that the computer based AAC is multimodal, despite the fact that the computer is the user’s pri­mary technical communication aid. For example, signs, gestures and sounds are used to indicate errors and to display emotion. The activity and the placement of the computer also affect the interaction. In school the computer is more often used as a traditional communication map. This is largely due to the fact that the communication partner is positioned in such a way that what the child is doing with the computer becomes visible to both of them. Presently, research that illustrates repair in these kinds or AAC conver­sations is sparse. This study will hopefully create interest for continuing research that, with an interactional approach, identifies and describes functional communicative prac­tices in AAC conversations.</p>

Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur ett barn, som använder ett datorbase­rat grafiskt kommunikationshjälpmedel (Tellus), med hjälp av reparationer löser lokala kommunikativa problem i samarbete med människor i sin omgivning. Barnet har video­filmats i vardagliga naturligt förekommande aktiviteter – skola och hem. Som analys­metod har Conversation Analysis (CA) använts. Resultaten visar att reparationer är en typ av resurser för deltagarna att, bland annat, skapa samförstånd genom att förtydliga oklarheter och missförstånd i samtalet. Reparationssekvenserna är ofta långa, och leder till inskottssekvenser i samtalet, men har en viktig interaktionell betydelse för att uppnå samförstånd. Analysen visar även att kommunikation med datorbaserad AKK är mul­timodal, trots att datorn är barnets primära kommunikationshjälpmedel. Exempelvis används tecken, gester och ljud för att markera fel och för att visa upp känslor. Aktivi­teten och datorns placering påverkar också interaktionen. I skolan används datorn oftare som en traditionell kommunikationskarta. Detta beror till stor del på att samtalspartnern sitter på ett sådant sätt att det barnet gör med datorn blir synligt för båda. Forskning som belyser reparationer i denna typ av AKK-samtal saknas. Denna studie kommer förhopp­ningsvis att skapa intresse för fortsatt forskning som, med ett interaktionellt synsätt, identifierar och beskriver fungerande kommunikativa praktiker i AKK-samtal. / The main purpose of this study is to describe how a child, who uses a computer based graphical communication aid (Tellus), with the help of repairs resolves local communi­cative problems in cooperation with people in the immediate surroundings. The child has been videotaped in natural occurring activities – school and home. Conversation Analysis (CA) has been used as a method. The results show that repairs are a set of re­sources for the participants to, among other things, create mutual understanding by clarifying ambiguities and misunderstandings in the talk. The sequences of repair are often long, and lead to inserted sequences in the talk, but have an important interac­tional meaning in achieving mutual understanding. The analysis also shows that the computer based AAC is multimodal, despite the fact that the computer is the user’s pri­mary technical communication aid. For example, signs, gestures and sounds are used to indicate errors and to display emotion. The activity and the placement of the computer also affect the interaction. In school the computer is more often used as a traditional communication map. This is largely due to the fact that the communication partner is positioned in such a way that what the child is doing with the computer becomes visible to both of them. Presently, research that illustrates repair in these kinds or AAC conver­sations is sparse. This study will hopefully create interest for continuing research that, with an interactional approach, identifies and describes functional communicative prac­tices in AAC conversations.

L’objectif de cette thèse était d’étudier et développer une aide logicielle, nommée ComMob (communication et mobilité), permettant d’aider l’utilisateur lors de la saisie d’information en situation dégradée, en se centrant sur des utilisateurs à fort handicap moteur. La thèse se situe dans le domaine de l’interaction homme-machine, domaine particulièrement important puisque les interactions homme-machine se déroulent désormais continuellement et en tous lieux (domicile, lieux publics, travail…). Sous l’angle applicatif, cette recherche est plus particulièrement centrée sur la mobilité, en lien avec les transports collectifs, l’accès aux informations voyageur, l’incitation à utiliser ceux-ci, tout en faisant le lien avec des activités journalières. Mais dans ce cadre on s’intéresse plus particulièrement aux utilisateurs de profil Infirme Moteur Cérébral de type tétraplégique athétosique ; ces utilisateurs éprouvant des difficultés à effectuer des actions à l’aide de leurs membres supérieurs à cause de fréquents mouvements parasites. De plus, ces personnes ont un problème de dysarthrie. Le système ComMob exploite des pictogrammes pour accélérer la saisie des phrases ; différentes fonctionnalités sont proposées incluant une aide à la programmation. Plusieurs évaluations ont été effectuées, aussi bien en mobilité qu’en laboratoire. Différentes pers-pectives de recherche sont également proposées. / The objective of the thesis is the study and development of a software aid named ComMob (Communication and Mobility) aimed at assisting disabled users when inputting information, nota-bly those with high mobility impairment. The thesis is in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, a particularly important area given that user interfaces are present on every device used continuously in all places (home, public places, offices ...). This research targets increased public transport use, better access to traveler information, and also daily activities of users with athetoid quadriplegic cerebral palsy. These users have difficulties performing actions with their arms because of frequent uncontrolled movements. In addition, they also have a dysarthria problem. The ComMob system uses pictograms to accelerate the input of sentences via different functions, including a program-ming aid. Several evaluations have been conducted in mobility situations and in laboratory condi-tions. Different research perspectives are also proposed.

Nonvocal alert patients in the intensive care unit setting often struggle to communicate due to inaccessible or unavailable tools for augmentative and alternative communication. A novel communication tool, the Manually-Operated Communication System (MOCS), was developed for use in intensive care settings for patients unable to speak due to mechanical ventilation. It is a speech-generating device designed for patients whose limited manual dexterity precludes legible writing. In a single-arm device feasibility trial, 14 participants (11 with tracheostomies, 2 with endotracheal tubes, and 1 recently extubated) used MOCS. Participants, family members, and observing nurses were interviewed whenever possible. Interviews included a modified version of the System Usability Scale (SUS) as well as open-ended questions; a qualitative immersion/crystallization approach was used to evaluate these responses. Participants with a tracheostomy and their family members/care providers rated MOCS on the SUS questions as consistently “excellent” (average rating across all groups was 84 +/- 17; all subgroups also rated the device highly). Through a qualitative interview process, these stakeholders expressed support for the use of MOCS in the ICU. Based on these data, MOCS has the potential to improve communication for nonvocal patients with limited manual dexterity.