Comparing Three Augmentative and Alternative Communication Modes for Children with Developmental Disabilities

• Published in: Journal of developmental and physical disabilities Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 451 - 468
• Main Authors: van der Meer, Larah, Didden, Robert, Sutherland, Dean, O’Reilly, Mark F., Lancioni, Giulio E., Sigafoos, Jeff
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.10.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Augmentative and alternative communication; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Children with disabilities; Communication Skills; Daily Living Skills; Developmental disabilities; Early intervention; Educational Psychology; Language Acquisition; Language Maintenance; Maintenance; Oral Language; Original Article; Pediatrics; Preferences; Psychology; Public Health; Receptive Language; Snacks; Speech; Visual Impairments; Manual sign; Picture-exchange; Augmentative and alternative communication; Developmental disabilities; Speech-generating devices
• ISSN: 1056-263X; 1573-3580
• DOI: 10.1007/s10882-012-9283-3

We compared acquisition, maintenance, and preference for three AAC modes in four children with developmental disabilities (DD). Children were taught to make general requests for preferred items (snacks or play) using a speech-generating device (SGD), picture-exchange (PE), and manual signs (MS). The effects of intervention were evaluated in a multiple-probe across participants and alternating-treatments design. Preference probes were also conducted to determine if children would choose one AAC mode more frequently than the others. During intervention, all four children learned to request using PE and the SGD, but only two also reached criteria with MS. For the AAC preference assessments, three participants chose the SGD most frequently, while the other participant chose PE most frequently. The results suggest that children’s preference for different AAC modes can be assessed during the early stages of intervention and that their preferences may influence acquisition and maintenance of AAC-based requesting responses.