The Effects of an Aided Augmentative and Alternative Communication Modeling Intervention on Production of Multi-symbol Messages by a School-aged Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Uses AAC
Open Access
Author:
Kaminski, Paige Ardan
Area of Honors:
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Erinn Heer Finke, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Carol Anne Miller, Thesis Honors Advisor
This study examined the effects of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) modeling intervention on multi-symbol messages by a school-aged child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who uses AAC. A larger study was conducted including seven participants (six boys, one girl) between the ages of eight and twelve who had a diagnosis of ASD. The case study exclusively examined the girl, who was 12 years-old diagnosed with Mental Retardation, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, and Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. The study consisted of four phases: baseline, intervention, generalization, and maintenance. During each of these phases storybooks were read and accompanied by a communication board on Proloquo2Go® on the Apple iPad®. During baseline, the researcher provided a verbal model of at least two symbols on the communication board and during the other phases provided an aided AAC model, which involved pairing natural speech with pointing out a corresponding symbol on an AAC device. The results suggest that aided AAC modeling intervention is an effective way to teach production of multi-symbol messages for school-aged children with ASD who use ACC. This conclusion suggests an expansion of the population in which aided AAC modeling is an effective intervention technique.