A Comparison of the Performance of 5-year-old Children with Typical Development using Iconic Encoding in AAC Systems with and without Icon Prediction on a Fixed Display

Abstract

Iconic encoding, or the use of a sequence of icons to retrieve a word or phrase from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies, has previously been shown to be challenging for young children to learn to use. It is possible that the use of icon prediction may facilitate learning in such systems by providing additional visual cues. The goal of the current study was to determine the effect of using icon prediction on the performance of 5-year-old children with typical development who were learning to locate and generalize vocabulary prestored in AAC technologies using iconic encoding. Twenty 5-year-old children were introduced to 30 vocabulary items and asked to locate them using iconic encoding during four learning and testing sessions. Ten of the children completed this task without iconic prediction, and 10 completed the task with icon prediction. They were also asked to locate an additional 30 vocabulary items, not previously introduced, during one generalization session. The results indicated that the children in the icon prediction group did not perform more accurately than the children who did not have prediction available. There was some evidence, however, that using icon prediction may help to facilitate generalization of the use of iconic encoding to novel vocabulary. Potential implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.

Keywords:

• Aided communication
• Assistive technology
• Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
• Children
• Iconic encoding
• Prediction

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Rhonda Carlson, Karen D'Silva, Karen Fallon, Jennifer Kent-Walsh, Brittany Larsson, John McCarthy, Suzanne Mellott, Maricka Ward, and Michelle Welliver for their assistance with data collection.

This research is part of the Communication Enhancement Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (AAC-RERC), which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education under grant number H133E980026. The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Education. Additional information on the AAC-RERC is available at http://www.aac-rerc.org/.

The results of this study have been previously reported as a footnote in Light et al. (2004), and one of the participant groups from that study was also used in the current study. Portions of this article are based in part on a presentation at the 9th biennial conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Washington, DC, August, 2000.

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

Notes

1 The BUILLD curriculum guide was used solely as an inspiration for an appropriate context (birthday party). The procedures described in this curriculum to teach iconic encoding were not used.

2 Unity software is a Minspeak™-based application, consisting of a set of colored icons. Condensed Unity is an adaptation of the Unity program that uses one- or two-icon sequences to retrieve vocabulary. Unity is a registered trademark of Semantic Compaction Company. For further information, contact Prentke Romich Company, 1022 Heyl Road, Wooster, OH 44691, USA; [phone]; [phone] (fax); www.prentrom.com.

3 The Liberator is a dedicated, voice-output communication aid that supports Minspeak-based application programs, including Unity. The Liberator is manufactured by the Prentke Romich Company. For further information, contact Prentke Romich Company, 1022 Heyl Road, Wooster, OH 44691, USA; [phone]; [phone] (fax); www.prentrom.com.