Effect of AAC technology with embedded literacy supports on the participation of children who are emerging symbolic communicators during shared reading.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the impact of high-tech augmentative and alternative communication designed with features to support literacy development on the active participation of children who are emerging symbolic communicators within shared storybook reading, a key context for language and literacy learning.

METHOD: Four children who were emerging symbolic communicators diagnosed with autism or a developmental disability with autism-like features participated in the ABAB single case experimental design. Condition A represented participants' typical lack of access to aided augmentative and alternative communication. Condition B represented access to high-tech aided augmentative and alternative communication featuring colour photos to support comprehension and a feature designed to support foundational reading skills.

RESULT: Despite variability in participation and required prompting, all participants demonstrated increased linguistic participation with access to augmentative and alternative communication. Nonoverlap of all pairs was calculated to estimate the condition effect size; calculations suggested augmentative and alternative communication had a moderate to strong effect for all participants.

CONCLUSION

This study supports and expands upon literature documenting the importance of access to high-tech aided augmentative and alternative communication that is thoughtfully designed for children who have emerging symbolic communication. Still, this study was limited in size and scope and more comprehensive research is needed to understand how best to support language and literacy learning opportunities.