Communicating the unknown: descriptions of pictured scenes and events presented on video by children and adolescents using aided communication and their peers using natural speech

Abstract

The facility to describe scenes and events is important in everyday communication, but little is known about the description skills and strategies of young people using aided communication. This article explores how 81 children and adolescents using aided communication and 56 peers using natural speech, aged 5–15 years, described pictured scenes and events presented on video to a partner who had no prior knowledge of the content. The group who used aided communication took longer and included fewer elements in their descriptions than the reference group; however, the groups did not differ in their use of irrelevant or incorrect elements, suggesting that both groups stayed on topic. Measures related to aided message efficiency correlated significantly with measures of spoken language comprehension. There were no significant differences between groups for their descriptions of pictured scenes and video events. Analyses showed both unpredicted group similarities and predictable differences, suggesting key components for future research consideration.

Keywords:

• Aided language
• peers
• pictured scenes
• video events
• co-construction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The Smith-Dahlgren Sandberg Spelling Scale (2010) was developed for use in the BAC project. It comprises a 4-point rating scale to classify spelling abilities: (a) text reliant, competent speller; may use word prediction effectively; errors can occasionally be self-corrected; there may be occasional confusions, (b) word/symbol reliant but emerging speller who initiates spelling that is sometimes helpful in bridging vocabulary gaps; there may be frequent misunderstandings, (c) reluctant speller, responds only if prompted to spell, and (d) does not use spelling.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was received from: the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development; Stiftelsen Sophies Minde, Oslo, Norway; the Sao Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil; the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research; and the University of Oslo, Norway.