Sociocultural development and validation of lexicon for Asian-Indian individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication

Abstract

Purpose. Individuals who temporarily or permanently are not able to communicate through use of gestures/signs, speech, and/or written communication mode benefit from the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. Effective communication skills for individuals who use an AAC system depend on appropriate lexicon. This study was designed to develop and validate a socially and culturally appropriate lexicon for Asian-Indians who use AAC.

Method. To this end, 120 individuals from India participated in this study. A composite list of lexical items was identified, using a structured social validation technique involving non-categorical and categorical nominations, and a rating of lexical items from a Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) lexicon.

Results. Data analysis indicated that 88 lexical items from the nomination task were not represented in the PCS lexicon and 247 items were rated as having no value for the Asian-Indian culture.

Conclusions. Findings suggest that while a lexicon from symbol sets developed for one culture might have considerable overlap across cultures, these lexicons may not be appropriate as a source of selecting a lexicon for an AAC user from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. Implications of these findings are discussed for speech-language pathologists and other rehabilitation professionals.

Keywords:

• Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
• graphic symbols
• lexicon
• picture communication symbols (PCS)
• social validation

Notes

1. The subcategories Alphabet, Days of the week, Months of the Year, and Numbers from the miscellaneous category were not included in the lexical validation, as these items are known in advance to be the most culture-specific. These items in PCS are language-specific and represented by traditional orthography.