Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
Enjoyment and perceived competence in computer-aided conversations with new and familiar partners
by David Rankin
Todman J. Rankin D. & File P. (1999). Enjoyment and perceived competence in computer-aided conversations with new and familiar partners. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 22:153-154.
The Use of Stored Text in Computer-Aided Conversation: A Single-Case Experiment
by David Rankin
Todman J, Rankin D. & File P. (1999). The use of stored text in computer-aided conversation: A single-case experiment. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18:287-309.
Augmentative communication (AC) systems with synthesized speech output have been developed for nonspeaking people.... more Augmentative communication (AC) systems with synthesized speech output have been developed for nonspeaking people. Most AC devices that aim to support social conversation have been designed to help the user generate novel utterances as quickly as possible. However, they remain too slow to support effective, real-time conversation. Preconstructed phrases have been shown capable of supporting socially effective conversations with a succession of new partners when the phrases are stored within a structure that models pragmatic aspects of natural conversation. The extent to which prestored text can be effective in repeated conversations with the same person, where most phrases are not reusable, was investigated in a single-case experimental design. Results indicated that the AC user’s conversational rate with a repeat partner was faster, without any accompanying loss of social effectiveness. Furthermore, the user did not need to resort to on-line entry of text more frequently with the repeat partner than with new partners. Implications for the design of AC systems and for the understanding of the pragmatics of conversation are discussed.
What Happens to Reading Between First and Third Grade? Implications for Students Who Use AAC
Published in Augmentative & Alternative Communication. 2006 Mar; 22(1): 21-36. Co-authored with Sturm JM, Spadorcia SA, Cunningham JW, Cali KS, Staples A, Erickson K, Yoder DE, Koppenhaver DA.
School-age students who use AAC need access to communication, reading, and writing tools that can support them to... more School-age students who use AAC need access to communication, reading, and writing tools that can support them to actively engage in literacy learning. They also require access to core literacy learning opportunities across grade levels that foster development of conventional literacy skills. The importance of the acquisition of conventional literacy skills for students who use AAC cannot be overemphasized. And yet, one of the critical challenges in supporting the literacy learning of students who use AAC has been a lack of knowledge about literacy curricula and supports to literacy learning for these students. Most students who use AAC do not become conventionally literate and few of those who do achieve literacy skills beyond the second grade level. This article will provide an overview of the most frequent reading instructional activities in first and third grade classrooms. To better understand the foundational experiences important to literacy learning, the results of a survey project that examined the reading activities of general education students and teachers during primary grade instruction are presented, and critical shifts in instruction that occurred between first and third grade are highlighted. The primary instructional focus of core reading activities is also examined, along with adaptations for students who use AAC.