The Impact of Interface Design During an Initial High-Technology AAC Experience: A Collective Case Study of People with Aphasia

Abstract

The purpose of this collective case study was to describe the communication behaviors of five people with chronic aphasia when they retold personal narratives to an unfamiliar communication partner using four variants of a visual scene display (VSD) interface. The results revealed that spoken language comprised roughly 70% of expressive modality units; variable patterns of use for other modalities emerged. Although inconsistent across participants, several people with aphasia experienced no trouble sources during the retells using VSDs with personally relevant photographs and text boxes. Overall, participants perceived the personally relevant photographs and the text as helpful during the retells. These patterns may serve as a springboard for future experimental investigations regarding how interface design influences the communicative and linguistic performance of people with aphasia.

Keywords::

• Aphasia
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• AAC
• Visual scene displays
• VSDs
• Personally relevant materials
• Text
• Assessment

Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Brittany Sileo 
Fehskens, Anna Reinstatler, Jenna Wolf, Katie Sheridan, 
and Mikel Williams for their contributions to this 
project. The authors extend their appreciation to Drs Sarah Wallace and John McCarthy for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. Lastly the authors are grateful for the participants’ time and effort; because of them we have a better understanding of how 
people with chronic aphasia utilize various features of high-technology Visual Scenes Displays.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

The project described was supported by the University of Cincinnati (UC) University Research Council (URC) New Faculty Grant. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views UC URC.

Notes

1. PalmTop^TM is a handheld AAC device that was formerly available through Dynavox Mayer-Johnson, 2100 Wharton Street, Suite 400 Pittsburgh, PA. 15203. The device is no longer commercially available.

2. DynaVox^TM is trademark of DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, 2100 Wharton Street, Suite 400 Pittsburgh, PA 15203.

3. Canon FS200 is a product of Canon^™, One Canon Park, Melville, NY 11747.