The effect of augmented input on the auditory comprehension of narratives for people with aphasia: a pilot investigation

Abstract

Augmented input is the strategy of supplementing expressive language with visuographic images, print, gestures, or objects in the environment. The goal of augmented input is to facilitate comprehension of spoken language. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative effectiveness of two different augmented input conditions in facilitating auditory comprehension of narrative passages in adults with aphasia. One condition involved the communication partner (clinician) of the adult with aphasia actively pointing (AI-PP) out key content words using visuographic supports. The second condition involved no active pointing (AI-NPP) by the communication partner (i.e., attention was not drawn to the visuographic supports). All 12 participants with aphasia listened to two narratives; one in each condition. Auditory comprehension was measured by assessing participants’ accuracy in responding to 15 multiple-choice cloze-type statements related to the narratives. Of the 12 participants, seven gave more accurate responses to comprehension items in the AI-PP condition, four gave more accurate responses in the AI-NPP condition, and one scored the same in both conditions. These differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Communication-partner-referenced augmented input using combined high-context and PCS symbol visuographic supports improved response accuracy for some participants. Continued research is necessary to determine partner involvement with and frequency of augmented input that improve auditory comprehension.

Keywords:

• AAC
• aphasia
• augmented input
• comprehension
• narratives
• written-choice communication strategy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 PCS is a product of DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, Sweden, www.dynavoxtech.com/company/

2 Boardmaker is software product of Mayer-Johnson, USA, https://mayer-johnson.com/

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Thuthuka program (TTK 150708124127) and the University of Pretoria (Research Development Program). Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily the funders. The authors would like to thank the participants and those that assisted with the recruitment process. We also wish to thank Lauren Henchey for her assistance with the language editing of this manuscript.