Assessing alternative communication in a classroom setting

Abstract

I have developed and tried out a procedure for quantifying certain aspects of communication interaction between the teachers and a 10-year-old pupil who uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The symbol communication of the pupil during formal teaching sessions in a natural classroom setting and in individual lessons was observed for 6 weeks. Several issues are discussed based on the collected data, for instance, the number of communicative opportunities of the AAC user, the factors that elicited the opportunities, the functional categories of his communication and his use of communication aids. It is argued that similar procedures should be used to assess the effect of interventions that aim at enhancing an AAC user's symbol communication in class.

Key Words:

• augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
• assessment
• teaching and intervention