Development of communication, Designing effective AAC ... · Development of communication, language...
Transcript of Development of communication, Designing effective AAC ... · Development of communication, language...
8/8/16
RERC-AAC.ORG 1
DesigningeffectiveAACsystemsforyoungchildrenwithcomplex
communicationneedsJaniceLight,Ph.D.
PennStateUniversityForhandoutsvisithttp://aac.psu.edu
Developmentofcommunication,language&literacyskills
• Duringthefirst5yearsoflife,typicallydevelopingchildrendemonstrateremarkablegrowth– frombirthwhentheyare
• preintentional &presymbolic
– tothestartofschoolyearswhentheyareableto• expressawiderangeofintents• understand&expressthousandsofvocabularyconcepts• generatecomplexsentencestocommunicateideas• tellstories,provideexplanations,&developpersuasivearguments• acquireconventionalliteracyskillstoread&write
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Whatdoweknow?• GrowingbodyofresearchthatdemonstratesthatAACinterventioncanhaveapositiveeffectoncommunicationofindividualswithCCN– Turntaking/participation– Requesting/commenting– Receptive&expressivevocabulary– Length&complexityofmessages– Phonologicalawareness/reading&writingskills– Challengingbehavior,etc.
• Thesebenefitsarerealizedatnorisktospeechdevelopment
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LanguageandcommunicationoutcomesforchildrenwithCCN
• Despitethispotential,mostchildrenwithCCN– Experiencesignificantlimitationsintheircommunicativecompetence
– Demonstratelimitationsinpragmatic,semantic,syntactic,&morphologicalknowledge&skills
– Enteradulthoodwithoutfunctionalliteracyskills
• ButitdoesNOThavetobethisway
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RERC-AAC.ORG 2
ChallengesofAACintervention• Thereisnothingeasyabout
currentAACintervention– AACsystemsaredifficultto
learn&timeconsumingtoprogram
– AACinterventionrequirespartnerstochangebehaviorsthatarelongestablished
• Needtoreducethedemands– AACsystems/technologies
thatareeasytoprogram/use– Interventionstrategiesthat
areeasytolearn&implementindailylife
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HowcanweimproveAACinterventiontomaximizeoutcomesforyoungchildrenwithcomplex
communicationneeds?
Requireevidence-basedAACintervention
• Interventionwiththechildwithcomplexcommunicationneeds– EffectivedevelopmentallyappropriateAACsystems– Instructioninlinguistic,operational,social,andstrategicskillstodevelopcommunicativecompetence
• Interventionwithprimarypartners– Ensureopportunitiesforcommunication– Ensureappropriatesupportsforeffectivecommunication
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LackofattentiontothedesignofAACsystems/technologies
• Todate,wehavegivenonlylimitedattentiontothedesignofAACsystemsforchildren– Evenwiththeadventofmobiletechnologies/apps
• LackofattentiontothedesignofAACsystems/appsforchildrenwithCCNisironic– ThiscomponentofinterventionsubstantiallyaffectsperformanceAND
– Itistheinterventioncomponentthatismosteasilyamenabletochange
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RERC-AAC.ORG 3
Goalsofthepresentation
• ToreflectontraditionalapproachestoAACsystems
• TosuggestanewapproachtoAACsystemdesigndrivenbychildren’sneeds&skills
• Toshareshapshots ofresearchstudiesthatmayinformusaboutthedesignofmoreeffectiveAACsystemsforyoungchildren
• Toconsiderdirectionsforfutureresearch&developmenttoimprovethedesignofAACsystemsforyoungchildren
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DesigningeffectiveAACinterventionsforyoungchildren
• Inordertobeoptimallyeffective,AACinterventionsshouldbedrivenby– Child’sneedsandskills
• Butisthiswhatweactuallydo?– Let’sconsidercurrentAACsystems/apps
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WhydowedesignAACsystemsforchildreninthewaywetypicallydo?
• TypicallydesignedbynondisabledEuropeanAmericanadults– Reflectperspectivesofthedevelopers
• ChildrenwithCCNhavedifferentperspectives– Age/developmentalstatus
– Culture/ethnicity– Disabilitystatus
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Thedesignchallenge
• ChildrenwithCCNmaynot findAACsystems– Appealing– Easytolearnoruse
• ResearchsuggeststhatyoungchildrenhavedifficultyusingAACsymbolsinthisway– Comprehension– Expression(Trudeau,Sutton&Morford,2014)
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RERC-AAC.ORG 4
Thechallenge
• HowdowedesignAACsystemsthatare– Developmentallyappropriate?
– Dynamic?– Easytolearn&use?– Appealingtoyoungchildren?
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Puttingchildrenfirst
• ProposeanewapproachtodesigningAACsystems– Putschildrenfirst– Startswithyoungchildren’sneedsandskillstodrivethedesign
– ResultsinAACsystemsthatare• Developmentallyappropriate• Dynamic• Easytolearnanduse• Appealing
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Whatdoweknowaboutchilddevelopmentgenerally?
• Visiondevelopment– Nearvisiondevelopsfirst– Attentiontopeople
• Motordevelopment– Childrendevelopcontrolfrom“insideout”
• Bestcontrolatmidline– Contactgesturesdevelopfirst;laterdistal
• Cognitive/linguisticdevelopment– Initialattentiontopersonorobject/event
• Latercoordinatedjointattentiontoperson&object/event– Initiallychildrenarecontext-bound
• Learnnewconceptsincontext– Relyoneventschematosupportcommunication
• Developdisplaced“talk”later• Developmetalinguisticskillsmuchlater
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Processofchildlanguagedevelopment
PreintentionalIntentionalbutnotsymbolic
EarlysymbolicSemantic
development
Dev’t ofsyntax
/morphology
Dev’t ofmetalinguistic&literacyskills
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RERC-AAC.ORG 5
Whatdoweknowaboutlanguagedevelopment?
• Children’slanguagesystems– Differsignificantlyfromthoseofadults– Changesignificantlyovertimeastheydevelop
• Ateachstageoflanguagedevelopment,childrendemonstrate– Quantitativedifferences– Qualitativedifferences
• WeneedtodesignAACsystems– Tofitchildren’sneeds&skillsateachstage– Toaccommodatedevelopmentalchangesseamlessly
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RequirementsforAACsystemstosupportyoungchildren
Providestrongcontextualsupportforearlysymbolicdevelopment
Supportvocabularyexplosion/earlysemanticrelations
Supportacquisitionofsyntax&morphology/
abstractlanguage
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AACsystemsforbeginningcommunicators
Providestrongcontextualsupport
forsymbolicdevelopment
Supportvocabularyexplosion/earlysemanticrelations
Supportacquisitionofsyntax&morphology/
abstractlanguage
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ComponentsofAACsystems
• AACsystems/appsforyoungchildreninvolvefivekeycomponents– Representationoflanguageconcepts
– Organizationandlayoutoftheseconcepts
– Navigation– Selection– Output
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RERC-AAC.ORG 6
Howshouldwerepresentlanguageconceptsforyoung
childrenwithCCN?
HowdowemaptheinternaldevelopinglanguagesystemofchildrenwithCCNtotheexternalAACsystem/app?
TraditionalAACsymbols
• LanguageconceptsrepresentedbyseparateAACsymbols
• Representationstakelanguageconceptsoutofcontext
• Understandingsymbolsreliesonsemanticmemory– “dictionary”definition
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Howdoyoungchildrenrepresentlanguageconcepts?
• Researchquestions(Light,Worah,Bowker,Drager,Burki,D’Silva,Kristiansen,Jones,&Hammer,2012)
– Howdoyoungchildrenfromdifferentculturalbackgroundsrepresentearlyemergingabstractlanguageconceptsgraphically?
– Howdothechildren’sgraphicrepresentationscomparetothoseofexistingAACsymbolsets?
– DoyoungchildrenunderstandtraditionalAACsymbols?
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Howdoyoungchildrenrepresentlanguageconcepts?
• Participants– 50typicallydevelopingchildren;ages3-6years– 5differentculturalgroups
• AfricanAmerican;Hispanic;EuropeanAmerican;ImmigrantsfromIndia;Norwegian
• 10earlyemerginglanguageconcepts– allgone,big,come,eat,more,open,up,want,what,who
• Twotasks– Askedtodrawconcepts&describetheirdrawings– ShownPCSforconcepts&askedtonamePCS
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Come
• Only10%identifiedthePCSforcome– Othersthoughtitwas“pointerfinger”,“aboo-boo”,“twodrivewaysandahand”,etc
25“Somebody’s coming, my friend is visiting.”
Children’s representation of “come”
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Want
• Only4%identifiedthePCSforwant– Theothersthoughtitwas“aTV”,“cutoffhands”,“handsandsoap”,etc
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Children’srepresentationof“want”
“That’sme.That’smybrother.AndIwantit.”28
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Who
• 0%identifiedthePCSforwho– Thechildrenthoughtitwas“abackofahead”,“aboyeating”,“ahaircut”,“a7withears”,etc
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Children’srepresentationof“who”
“Girl says, ‘Mom, who is that?’‘This is your new daddy.’
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Howdochildren’srepresentationsdifferfromtraditionalAACsymbols?
• Reflectdifferentunderlyingconceptualizations• Includedepictionsofentirescenesorevents
– Conceptsareembeddedincontext– Scenesincludefamiliarpeopleandevents
• Seldomincludepartsofobjectsorpeople– Partsrequireinferenceofthecompleteobject/person&intent
• Donotincludeemblemsorarbitrarysymbols– E.g.,arrows,movementlines,punctuation
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Implicationsforrepresentinglanguageconcepts
• Youngchildrendonot initiallyunderstandmosttraditionalAACsymbols
• LackoftransparencyofAACsymbols– Addsadditionalcognitivedemands
• Learnlanguageconcept• ANDlearnrepresentation/symbol
– Thereisnoinherentvalueinlearningthissymbol
• Additionallearningdemandsslowdownrateoflanguagelearning
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RERC-AAC.ORG 9
Howshouldwerepresent,organize,&layoutdisplaysforyoungchildrenwithCCN?
HowdowemaximizeunderstandinganduseoflanguageviaAAC?
TraditionalAACdisplays
Traditionalgridlayout• Eachlanguageconceptis
representedbyseparateAACsymbolsin“boxes”organizedinrows&columns
• Languageistakenoutofcontext;understandingreliesonsemanticmemory
• Eachrepresentationmustbeprocessedseparately,understood,&thenintegrated
Gridfor“playingtelephone”
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AlternativeapproachtoAACdisplaysVisualscenedisplays
Visualscenedisplay(VSD)• Vocabularyembeddedunder“hotspots”inintegratedvisualscene
• Languageispresentedinmeaningfulcontext
• Sceneisprocessedasanintegratedunit
• Meaningisderivedfromtheentirescene
VSDfor“playingtelephone”
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ResearchonlayoutofAACdisplays
• Seriesofstudiestoinvestigatetheeffectsofdifferentlayouts– Griddisplays– Visualscenedisplays
• Investigateperformanceofchildrenacrossvariousdevelopmentalstages– Infants(9-12monthsold)– Toddlers(2&3yearsold)– Preschoolers(4&5yearolds)
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Researchontheeffectoftypeofdisplay
• Infantstudy(Wilkinson&Light,inprogress)– 4differentcontextsfamiliartoinfants
• Feeding,bathing,playingball,etc– InfantsviewedpairsofAACdisplaysforeachcontext
• E.g.,PCSgridvs.photoVSD• Position&ordercounterbalanced
– Eyetrackingtechnology• Measurevisualattention/interest
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Typeofdisplayaffectsvisualattentionofinfants
• Infantslookedfirst&longestatphotoVSDcomparedtoPCSgrid
• Infantsat“firstwords”stagedemonstratedstrongpreferenceforphotoVSDs
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0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
PCSgrid VSD
Meanlengthofviewing,VSDvsgrid
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Researchontheeffectoftypeofdisplay
• Studieswithtoddlersandpreschoolers– 2½yearolds&3yearolds
• Drager,Light,Curran-Speltz,Fallon,&Jeffries,2003• Drager,Light,Carlson,etal.,2004
– 4&5yearolds• Light,Drager,McCarthy,etal.,2004
• Methods– Childrenaskedtolocatevocabularyusingdifferenttypesofdisplays&tousedisplayscommunicatively
• VSDs(organizedbyevent)• Traditionalgridorganizedschematically(byevent)• Traditionalgridorganizedtaxonomically(bycategory)
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RERC-AAC.ORG 11
Whatdoesresearchtellus?
• ToddlersweremoreaccuratelocatingvocabularyusingVSDsthangriddisplays(Drager,Light,etal.,2003)
• Itwasnotuntilchildrenwere4&5yearsoldthattheywereabletolocatevocabularywithsimilaraccuracyusingVSDsorgriddisplays(Light,etal.,2004)
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Whatdoesresearchtellus?
• 4&5yearoldsperformedmuchmoreaccuratelywithVSDsorgridsthanwithiconicencoding/Minspeak(Light,etal.,2004)
• Withappropriateintervention,4-5yearoldswithCCNcanacquirebasicliteracyskills– Requiresystemswithaccess
totraditionalorthography(Light&McNaughton,2009)
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ImplicationsfordesigningAACdisplaysforchildrenwithCCN
• VSDsmaybebettersuitedthangriddisplaysfor• Infants• Toddlers• Youngerpreschoolers• Olderbeginningcommunicatorswithseveredisabilities
• Comparedtotraditionalgriddisplays,VSDsmay• Attractmorevisualattention• Resultinmoreaccurateperformance• Supportmorerapidlexicaldevelopment/learning
• VSDsarenotappropriateforeveryone• Olderpreschoolers/schoolagechildrenrequireaccessto
traditionalorthography– tosupportmoreadvancedlanguage&literacydevelopment
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WhydoVSDsenhancetheperformanceofyoungchildren?
• Capturecontextsinwhichyoungchildrenlearnlanguage&communicationskills– Providevisualsupportsforlanguagelearning&use
• Replicateeventsexperiencedbythechildren– Supportaccesstolanguageconceptsviaepisodicmemory;donotrequiresemanticmemory
• Areprocessedasawholeratherthanindividualunits– Reduceworkingmemorydemandscomparedtogrids
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WhydoVSDsenhanceperformanceofyoungchildren?
• Preservetheconceptual&spatialrelationshipsbetweenpeople&objectsasintherealworld– Preserveproportionalsize,location,&function
– Providegreatersupportforcomprehension&use
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VisualcognitiveprocessingofVSDs(Wilkinson,Light&Drager,2012)
• VSDsalsoexploitthehumancapacityforrapidvisualprocessingofnaturalisticscenes
• Humansprocesssceneswithinfirstglance(Olivia&Torralba,2007)
– Humansconstantlyprocessscenesindailylife– Focusattentiononkeypeople/events– Ignoreirrelevantbackgrounddetails– Presenceofcontextinvisualscenedoesnotappeartoaddvisual“complexity”
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WhatelementsshouldbeincludedinVSDsfor
youngchildrenwithCCN?HowcanwedesignVSDstomaximize
communication&languagedevelopment?
SignificantvariationinthedesignofVSDs
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DifferencesinthedesignofVSDsforyoungchildren
• TheseVSDsdiffersignificantly– Presence/absenceofhumansengagedinsocialinteraction
– Peopleareafundamentalcomponentofchildren’searlycommunicationexperiences
– Typeofimage• Photosorlinedrawings
– Personalizationofthescene• Personalizedornonpersonalized
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EffectsofpeopleinVSDs(Wilkinson&Light,2011;Wilkinson&Light,2014)
– Question• Whatistheeffectofpeopleinvisualscenesonvisualprocessing?
• ChildrenwithTD,ASD,DS,IDD
– Procedures• Presentedphotosrepresentingvisualscenes
• Usedeyetrackingresearchtechnologytomeasurewhereparticipantslooked,when,andforhowlong
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Results&ImplicationsfordesignofeffectiveVSDs
• PeopleinVSDsattractedvisualattentionwithinthefirst1-1.5sofviewing– ResultswererobustacrosschildrenwithTD,DS,ASD,IDD
• PeoplewithinVSDsattractmuchmorevisualattentionthanotherelements– Despitethepresenceofmultiplecompetingelementsinthescene
• Elementsthatarelarge,bright,and/orcolorful– Evenwhenthepeopleareverysmall
• Occupyonly2-5%oftheVSD
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Results&implicationsfordesignofeffectiveVSDs
• Participantslookfirst&longestatpeopleinVSDs,buttheyalsofixateonotherelementsinVSDs– Especiallyotheranimatefigures
• E.g.,animals– Alsomoreprominent,centrallylocated,meaningfulitems
• E.g.,Christmastree,objectswithwhichhumansareengaged– Viewerstypicallyignorestaticnon-meaningfulbackgroundelements
• E.g.,floor,curtains,furniture– Keyelementsofscenesareusedtosupportprocessing&understandingofscene
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ImplicationsforthedesignofeffectiveVSDsforyoungchildren
• VSDsthatincludepeople– Capturethehuman/socialelementsthatarecentraltocommunicationdevelopment
• Thesearethecontextsinwhichlanguagelearningoccurs– Exploitchildren’sinnatevisualattentiontopeople
• VSDsofemptyroomswithnopeopleorstickfiguresmay– Failtocaptureorfocusvisualattention– Failtocapturethesocialelementsthatareintegraltocommunicationdevelopment
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Constraintsofstaticphotovisualscenedisplays
• Unmetneed– YoungchildrenwithCCNbenefitfromVSDstosupportcommunication
– CurrentAACappsarelimitedtostaticphotoVSDs;failtocapturedynamicevents
– VideoofferspotentialtocapturedynamiceventsbutcurrentAACtechnologiesonlysupportpassivevideoviewing
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Developingtechnologieswithvideovisualscenedisplays
• Engineering solution– Capturevideoofdailyroutines
• Viabuiltincameras&wirelessimport
– Allowpauseofvideo• CreateVSDsatthesejunctures
• Createhotspotswithspeechoutput
– InitialprototypedevelopedbyInvoTek
– Evaluationstudiesinprogress(staytuned)
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HowshouldwedesignAACsystemstosupportnavigation byyoungchildrenwithCCN?
Navigation
• TraditionalAACsystemshaveutilizedseparatenavigationalmenus– Difficultforyoungchildrentounderstand
– Requirescognitivemapof“hidden”displays
– RequiresunderstandingthatsymbolrepresentsanAACdisplaynotaconcept
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Alternativedesignstofacilitatenavigation
• UsethumbnailsofVSDsfornavigationmenu– Explicatelinktodisplay
• Includenavigationmenuondisplay– Limitmemorydemands
• Animatetransitionfrommenutomaincommunicationdisplayuponselection– Supportconceptualmodelof
navigation• Model/scaffoldnavigationfor
youngchildreninitially– Donotholdbacklanguage
development
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Locationofnavigationmenus
• Whereshouldnavigationmenusbelocatedwithindisplays– tominimizedistractionduringcommunication– tomaximizeaccuracy&efficiencyduringnavigation?
• Goal– Evaluateeffectofmenulayoutsonvisualattention&navigationaccuracy&latency
• Tophorizontal,bottomhorizontal,rightvertical,leftvertical– ChildrenwithASD,IDD,DS
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Investigatingvisualcognitiveprocessingdemandsofnavigationlayouts
(Wilkinson,Light,O’Neill,inprogress)
3studieswithchildrenwithCCN
• Procedures– FreeviewingofVSDs
• Determineelementsofdisplaysthatcapturevisualattention
– Cuedviewing• LocationoftargetVSDfornavigation
• Staytunedforresults
EyetrackingdataduringcuedviewingforparticipantwithDownsyndrome
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How should we design displays to support selection by
young children with CCN?
Howcanwereduceprocessingdemandsandmaximizeaccuracy&
efficiency?
Traditionalapproachestodisplays:Implicationsforselection
• TraditionallyAACdisplaysforyoungchildrenhaveutilizedhorizontalrowsofsymbolsorsimplegrids
• Whatistheeffectoftheselayoutsonselectionaccuracyandefficiency?
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Effectsoftargetlayoutonaccuracy&efficiencyofselection(Costigan,Light&Newell,2012)
• Participants– 3yearolds&4yearoldswithtypicaldevelopment
• Procedures– Requiredtoselecttargetsofvarioussizeswithmouse
• Horizontaltrajectoryfromstart• Verticaltrajectory• Diagonaltrajectory
– Measuredaccuracy&efficiencyofselection
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Results&implicationsfordesign
Verticaltrajectory Horizontaltrajectory
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Results&implicationsforselection
Diagonaltrajectory Implications
• 3yearoldswithtypicaldevelopment– Weremostaccurate&efficientwithverticallayoutsoftargets
– Werelessaccurate&efficientwithhorizontal&diagonallayoutsoftargets
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ImplicationsfordesigningAACsystems
• Considerverticallayoutsoftargetsatmidlineforyoungchildrenandbeginningcommunicators– Offeringchoices– DesigningearlyAACdisplays
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Whatabouttheoutput ofAACsystems?
Whatoutputwillmaximizelearninganduse?
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OutputofAACsystems
• Adultstypicallyutilize“motherese”intheirinteractionswithyoungchildren
• Child-directedtalk– Exaggeratedintonation– Shorter,simplerwords&syntax– Soundeffects
• Benefitsofchild-directedtalkintypicaldevelopment– Capturesattentionofinfants&toddlers
• Preferchild-directedtalk– Conveyspositiveaffect– Facilitateslanguagelearning
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Utilizechild-directedspeechoutput• Reasonabletoproposechild-directedspeechoutputinAAC
systemsmighthavesimilarbenefitsforyoungchildrenwithCCN– IncreaseappealofAAC– CaptureattentiontoAAC– Supportunderstanding– Facilitatelanguagelearning
• Vocabulary• Syntax
• Limitedresearchontheeffectsofchild-directedspeechasAACoutput– PartofpackageAACinterventionthatdemonstratespositiveeffects/difficulttoteaseoutspecificeffects(Light,etal.,2016)
– PreliminaryevidencesuggestingsoundeffectsmayfacilitatelearningofAACsymbols(Harmon,Schlosser,etal.,2014)
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Supportingsemanticdevelopment
Providestrongcontextualsupport
forsymbolicdevelopment
Supportvocabularyexplosion/earlysemanticrelations
Supportacquisitionofsyntax&morphology/
abstractlanguage
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SemanticdevelopmentTypicaldevelopment
• Oncechildrenhaveacquired“firstwords”,theyexperienceavocabularyexplosion– Rapidlyacquirehundredsofnewconcepts– Learnnewwordsincontext– Adultsscaffoldthisvocabularydevelopment
• Respondtochildren’sneedsandinterests• Introducenewwords/concepts• Providemodelsofuse
– Richvocabularyiscriticaltocognitive&languagedevelopment
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ChallengesforchildrenwhouseAAC
• YoungchildrenwhorelyonAACfacesubstantialchallengesintheirvocabularydevelopment
• 2approaches– Customizeddynamicdisplaysystems– Systemswithpreset“corevocabulary”
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TraditionalAACinterventionmaylimitchildren’svocabularydevelopment
• AACtechnologiesareoftendifficultforyoungchildrentolearn&use– Children’srateoflanguagelearningisslowedbytheoperationaldemands
– Childrenarenotactivelyinvolvedinvocabularyselection/programmingbecauseofthecomplexity
• Programmingnewvocabularyaddsdemandstofamilies&professionalswhoarealreadyjugglingmanyresponsibilities– Children’slanguagelearningislimitedifnewvocabularyisnot
addedregularly– Families&professionalscannotcapitalizeonteachablemoments
duringdailyinteractions
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TraditionalAACinterventionmaylimitchildren’svocabularydevelopment
• “Corevocabulary”isnotdevelopmentallyappropriateforyoungchildrenattheearlystagesoflanguagedevelopment– Doesnotincludehighinterest,salient,personalizedconcepts
– Doesnotsupportmeaningfulcommunicationforarangeoffunctions
– Includesanabundanceofstructuralwords• Theseemergelaterindevelopment
– Isnotresponsivetochild’sneeds&interests• Isteacher/SLP-directedratherthanchildresponsive
– Instructionisdisplacedfrommeaningfulcontext• Reliesonsemanticmemorynotepisodicexperiences
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Potentialbenefitsof“justintime”programming
• JITprogrammingofnewvocabularyoccursontheflywithindailyinteractionsinresponsetochild’sneeds&interests
• AnyAACtechnologycouldbeused“just-in-time”– Provideditissimple&easyto
program• JITprogramming
– Significantlyreducestimedemandsforpartners
– Increasespartnerresponsivity– Allowschildrentobeinvolved
invocabularyselection
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JITAACtechnology
• JITAACsystemsreducenumber&complexityofprogrammingsteps– Allowquick&easyimportofphotosasVSDs
• UsingonboardcameraorcellphonewithBluetoothconnection
– Allowquick&easyadditionofhotspotsandprogrammingofvocabulary
• Drawingofhotspotswithfingerorstylus• Recordingofdigitizedspeech
– Provideprogrammingcontrolseasilyunderstood&usedbyyoungchildren
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Vocabularydevelopmentispartof,notseparatefrom,dailyinteractions
Programmingofconceptsoccursontheflyduringinteractionsasthe
need&interestoccurs.
JITprogramming- PlayingbabydollsOlivia Selects VSDofbathingdoll
Requests“DOLL”“BATH”PretendsdolliseatingsoapShakesherhead&vocalizes;laughs
Nurse Snaps photoofsceneasnewVSD
Olivia Pointstosoap thendoll’smouthonVSD
Nurse Adds hotspot“SOAP”Addshotspot“EAT”
Olivia Shakesherheadandlaughs
Nurse AddshotspotofOliviashakingherhead“NO”
Olivia Selects“EATSOAP”Selects“NO”“NO”“NO”andlaughs 79
JITprogramming- Playingbabydolls
Olivia Playingdolls;dropsdoll
Nurse Makescryingsound;picksupdoll&kissesthedollOlivialaughs
Olivia PointstoimageofnursekissingonVSD
Janice Adds hotspot“KISSING”+soundeffect
Olivia Selects“KISSING”andlaughsPointstonurse
Nurse Kisses dollOlivialaughs
Janice Writes“k”ondisplay tofosterearlyliteracyskillsinmeaningfulcontextAddshotspot“k”
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Increasedmotordemands• Withincreased
vocabulary,comeincreasedmotordemands– Childrenmaynothaveisolatedpointwithindexfinger
• Utilizingadaptivestrategies– Usethumbtoselect– Allowsprecision– Avoidsunwantedselections
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Supportingtheacquisitionofmoreadvancedlanguage
Providestrongcontextualsupport
forsymbolicdevelopment
Supportvocabularyexplosion/earlysemanticrelations
Supportacquisitionofsyntax&morphology/
abstractlanguage
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Developmentofsyntax&morphologyTypicaldevelopment
• Childrendevelopearlysemanticrelations– Continuetoexpandvocabulary
• Buildonthisfoundationanddevelopmoresophisticatedsyntax/morphology– Abletocombineconceptstocommunicatemorecomplexmessages
– Includefunctors,morphologicalendings,structuralwords
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ChallengesforchildrenwhouseAAC• Developmentofsyntax&morphologyverychallengingforchildrenwhouseAAC– Oftenhavelimitedopportunitiestocommunicatecomplexmeanings
• Messagesareco-constructed• Partnersfillinsyntaxandmorphology
– Oftenhavelimitedvocabularies– TypicallyusegraphicAACsymbolsets
• Thesearesemanticsystems;nottruelanguagesystems– Oftendonothaveaccesstomorphologicalmarkers
• Iftheydohaveaccess,thesehaveabstractrepresentationsandrequiremetalinguisticskillstoutilize
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RERC-AAC.ORG 22
Isthereabetterwaytosupportthedevelopmentofadvanced
languageskills?
Supportingtheacquisitionofadvancedlanguageskills
• Childrenrequireaccesstotruelanguagesystem– Mostlogicalsystemisnativelanguage– Introduceliteracyskills
• Literacyskillsprovidemultiplebenefits– Improvedaccesstoeducation,employment,socialinteraction,mainstreamtechnology,socialmedia
– Supportforlanguagelearning• Accesstorichvocabulary• Visualsupportforlearningsyntaxandmorphology
– Accesstotruegenerativecapacityoflanguage
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CurrentAACtechnologies/apps• ChildrenwhorequireAAC
typicallyuseAACsystems/appswithgraphicsymbols– E.g.,GriddisplayswithPCS,
Symbolstix,etc.– Minspeak icons– Visualscenedisplays,etc
• Thesesystems/appsdonotsupportthetransitionfromgraphicsymbolstoliteracy– Staticpresentationoftext– Displacedpresentationoftext
inmessagebar
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AACtechnologiestosupportthetransitiontoliteracy(T2L)
• AACappsthatsupportthetransitiontoliteracy(T2L)– IndividualselectsapicturesymbolfromAACdisplay
– Writtenwordappearsdynamically
– Writtenwordisspokenbytheapp
• 2apps– Grid-basedT2LappdevelopedbySaltillo(Hershberger)
– VSDT2LappdevelopedbyInvoTek (Jakobs)
• IncorporatedintoSnapScenebyTobiiDynavox 88
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RERC-AAC.ORG 23
InvestigatingAACtechnologiestosupporttransitiontoliteracy
• 6studiesinprogress– Withchildren&adultswithASD,IDD,CP
– Usinggrid-based&VSDT2Lapps
• PreliminaryresultsdemonstratepositiveeffectofapponliteracyskillsforindividualswithCCN– Withminimalexposuretowrittenwords
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Providingliteracyinstructiontomaximizelanguagedevelopment
• YoungchildrenwithCCNrequireliteracyinstruction– Startearly– Usemotivating&meaningfulmaterials– Targetappropriateskills
• Lettersoundcorrespondences,phonologicalawareness,decoding/encoding,sightwordrecognition,sharedreading/writing,etc.
– Utilizeeffectiveinstruction• Model,guidedpractice,independentpractice• Providenumerousopportunitiestoapplyskillsinmeaningfulcontexts
– Provideadaptationstosupportparticipation• Alternativeresponsemodalities• Oralscaffoldingsupport• Visualsupports
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Useliteracyskillstobolsterspeech,language,&communication
• Usewrittenlanguageto– Supportspeechdevelopment
• Lettersasvisualsupports• Lettersoundknowledge
– Supportlanguagedevelopment• Buildmorecomplexcommunication
– Expandsemantic,syntactic,morphological,discoursedev’t– Providevisualsupportoftext;highlightrelevantlanguage
– Fostersocialinteraction• Sharedreading,texting,socialmedia,etc
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Outcomesofliteracyintervention• ChildrenwithCCNcanlearnliteracyskills
– 15participantsinlargerliteracystudy(Light&McNaughton)– 3yearsoldtoadolescents– Widerangeofspecialneeds
• autism,cerebralpalsy,developmentalapraxia,Downsyndrome,multipledisabilities
– Usingvariousmeansofcommunication• speechapproximations,signs,PECSorotherlowtechsystems,speechgeneratingdevices(SGDs),mobiletechnologyandAACapps
• 100%ofparticipantslearnedtoread– Timetoacquisitionvariedacrossparticipants– Schools&familiesreportedhighlevelsofsatisfactionwithinstruction&outcomes
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AACsystemstosupportyoungchildren’slanguage&communication
Providestrongcontextualsupport
Usephoto&videoVSDsofmeaningfuleventswithchild-directedoutput
Supportvocabularyexplosion
UseJITAACtechnologytoprovidearichvocabulary
Involvechildinvocabselection&programming
Supportacquisitionofadvancedlanguage
IntroduceT2LappsTeachliteracyskills
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FrequencyofturnsexpressedbyJacksonatbaseline&duringintervention(15-37months)
0
50
100
150
200
250
B1 B3 3 5 7 9 13 16 20 22 25 33 37 39 41 43 48 52
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%ofturnsexpressedviadifferentmodesbyJacksonatbaseline&duringintervention(15-37months)
0102030405060708090
100
B1 B3 3 5 7 9 13 16 20 22 25 33 37 39 41 43 48 52
vocalizations/ speech approximations gestures/signs Aided AAC
95
%ofturnscommunicatedviaspeechbyJackson
0102030405060708090
100
B1 B3 3 5 7 9 13 16 20 22 25 33 37 39 41 43 48 52
vocalizations/ speech approximations
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Conclusions
• WehaveagrowingbodyofevidencethatshowsthatAACinterventionscanhavepositiveeffectsoncommunication,language&literacyskills– Demonstratesthepossible
• WehavenotyetdeterminedhowtooptimizeAACinterventions– CurrentAACsystems/interventionsimposesignificantlearningdemands
– Theymayconstraintherate&scopeoflanguage,literacy,&communicationasaresult
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Researchpriorities
• Futureresearchisurgentlyrequiredto– Determinevisual,cognitive,language&motorprocessing/developmentofchildrenwithCCN
– Design&evaluateAACsystemsthatrespondtochildren’sneedsacrossdevelopment
• Aredevelopmentallyappropriate• Areeasytolearnanduse• Aredynamic• Areappealingandfun• Provideaccesstothemagicandthepoweroflanguageandcommunication
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Thefuturechallenge
– Ensurethatwhatispossiblebecomeswhatisoptimal• sothatchildrenwithCCN
canmaximize theircommunication,language,&literacyoutcomes
– Ensurethatwhatispossiblebecomeswhatisprobable• sothatall childrenwith
CCNhavetheopportunitytoachievetheirfullpotential
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Forhandouts,visithttp://aac.psu.edu
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Acknowledgements• Weareespeciallygratefultotheindividualswhoparticipated
inthisproject.Thankyouforallowingustobeapartofyourlives.
• ThecontentsofthispresentationweredevelopedunderagrantfromtheNationalInstituteonDisability,IndependentLiving,andRehabilitationResearch(NIDILRRgrantnumber#90RE5017)totheRehabilitationEngineeringResearchCenteronAugmentativeandAlternativeCommunication(RERConAAC).http://rerc-aac.org
• NIDILRRisaCenterwithintheAdministrationforCommunityLiving(ACL),DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices(HHS).ThecontentsofthispresentationdonotnecessarilyrepresentthepolicyofNIDILRR,ACL,HHS,andyoushouldnotassumeendorsementbytheFederalGovernment.
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