Emily Weyman. AAC - “AAC is defined as an area of clinical practice that attempts to compensate temporarily or permanently for the impairment and disability.

Augmentative and Adaptive Communication for Children Who are d/Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing and Have Multiple Disabilities

Emily Weyman

Basics AAC - “AAC is defined as an area of

clinical practice that attempts to compensate temporarily or permanently for the impairment and disability of individuals with severe expressive communication disorders” (Lee, Jeong, & Kim, 2013, p. 2009)

Aided v. unaided (Sigafoos, Didden, Schlosser, Green, O’Reilly, & Lancioni, 2008, p. 72)

D/HH – do not communicate solely through auditory-oral means due to hearing loss

Hypothesis

Although geared and marketed toward hearing children with disabilities, technologically advanced augmentative and adaptive communication (AAC) can be beneficial to the communication of deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) children.

Method

ERIC: EBSCO PsycINFO MEDLINE Complete Google Scholar

Deaf, Disabilities, augmentative communication

Deaf, Disabilities, AAC

Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing, Disabilities, augmentative

communication or AACDisabilities, augmentative communication or AAC

Autism Spectrum Disorders, augmentative communication or

AACHearing loss, augmentative

communication or AAC

Recurring Themes

Communication needs of D/HH with multiple disabilities

Success rates of AAC use

D/HH and AAC future research implications

D/HH with Multiple Disabilities

High incidence of sensorineural hearing loss and multiple disabilities(Meinzen-Derr, 2011)

Increased presence of autism in population with hearing loss (Malandraki & Okalidou, 2007)

Communication Needs

Lack of success with commonly used habilitation approaches (Lee et al., 2013, p. 2008-2009)

Special considerations Particular need for eye contact Physical limitations implications on ASL (Davis,

Barnard-Brak, Dacus, & Pond, 2010)

Affect on diagnosis lack of norm-referenced assessments communication difficulties during

assessment (Wiley, Gustafson, & Rozniak, 2014, p. 40)

AAC Successes

Expressive & receptive languageIncrease in social interactionRate of speech developmentQuantity of expressive

statements

AAC Successes

D/HH and AAC

Mostly case studiesMalandraki & Okalidou (2007)

10-year-old Deaf boy with autism implemented PECS improved psychosocial

functioning, quantity of communication initiations, overall behavior

http://www.nwresd.k12.or.us/autism/PictureExchangeCommunicationSystemPECS.html

D/HH and AAC Lee et al. (2013)

implemented VOCA with children with CIs and multiple disabilities

increased vocabulary, frequency of communication, speech production

Future Research

Communication mode assessment(McKenzie, 2009, p. 241)

AAC type assessment (Mirenda, 2005, p. 52)

Age of implementation (Ganz, Earles-Vollrath, Mason, Rispoli, Heath, & Parker, 2011)

http://www.dynavoxtech.com/products/

featsonevada.squarespace.comhttp://appsforaac.net/content/tobii-sono-flex-review

Increased Communication

Fear of decreased speech/sign Importance of multiple

modes Increase of speech

development (Light, 2007,

p. 2)

http://www.barberinstitute.org/programs-services/children/early-childhood-programs/deaf-hard-of-hearing-program

Next Steps

Positive research

Possession of tools

Implementation of AAC use in D/HH

with multiple disabilities

Professional Development

References

Bradley, L. A., Krakowski, B., & Thiessen, A. (2008). With little research out there it's a matter of learning what works in teaching students with deafness and autism. Odyssey: New Directions in Deaf Education, 9(1), 16-18.

Davis, T., Barnard-Brak, L., Dacus, S., & Pond, A. (2010). Aided AAC systems among individuals with hearing loss and disabilities. Journal of Developmental & Physical Disabilities, 22(3), 241-256.

Ganz, J. B., Earles-Vollrath, T. L., Mason, R. A., Rispoli, M. J., Heath, A. K., & Parker, R. I. (2011). An Aggregate Study of Single-Case Research Involving Aided AAC: Participant Characteristics of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Research In Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(4), 1500-1509.

Guardino, C.A. (2008). Identification and placement for deaf students with multiple disabilities: Choosing the path less followed. American Annals of the Deaf. 153(1), 55-64.

Johnson, J.M., Inglebret, E., Jones, C. & Ray, J. (2006). Perspectives of speech language pathologists regarding success versus abandonment of AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication. 22(2). 85-99.

References

Lal, R. (2010). Effect of Alternative and Augmentative Communication on Language and Social Behavior of Children with Autism. Educational Research And Reviews, 5(3), 119-125.

Lee, Y., Jeong, S., & Kim, L. (2013). AAC intervention using a VOCA for deaf children with multiple disabilities who received cochlear implantation. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 77(12), 2008-2013.

Light, J., & Drager, K. (2007). AAC technologies for young children with complex communication needs: State of the science and future research directions. AAC: Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 23(3), 204-216.

Malandraki, G. A., & Okalidou, A. (2007). The application of PECS in a deaf child with autism: A case study. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 22(1), 23-32.

McKenzie, A. R. (2009). Unique considerations for assessing the learning media of students who are deaf-blind. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 103(4), 241-245.

References

Meinzen-Derr, J., Wiley, S., Grether, S., & Choo, D. I. (2011). Children with cochlear implants and developmental disabilities: A language skills study with developmentally matched hearing peers. Research in Developmental Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 32(2), 757-767.

Mirenda, P. (2005). AAC for individuals with autism: From symbol wars to EBP. Short course presented at the annual convention of the American Speech Language Hearing Association, San Diego, CA.

Shuler-Woodard, D. (2009). Technology--and colorado early education staff--helping deaf and hard of hearing children with disabilities. Odyssey: New Directions in Deaf Education, 10(1), 31-32.

Sigafoos, J., & Didden, R., Schlosser, R., Green, V. A., O’Reilly, M. F., & Lancioni, G. E. (2008). A review of intervention studies on teaching AAC to individuals who are deaf and blind. Journal of Developmental & Physical Disabilities, 20, 71-99.

Wiley, S., Gustafson, S., & Rozniak, J. (2014). Needs of parents of children who are Deaf/Hard of hearing with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education, 19(1), 40-49.