Language Development of Individuals Who Require Aided Communication: Reflections on State of the Science and Future Research Directions

Abstract

Language acquisition theories differ in the importance they assign to production as a learning mechanism. This review summarizes some of the theoretical issues linked to this debate and considers their implications for children with severe speech and physical impairments. The unique aspects of the language-learning contexts of these children are explored. Drawing largely on papers published within the journal Augmentative and Alternative Communication, this review summarizes features of language development that have been described over the past 3 decades and considers how these findings might illuminate our understanding of language development across both spoken and aided modalities. Implications for assessment, intervention and for further research are suggested.

Keywords::

• Language development
• Aided communication
• Theory

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank all reviewers for their generosity and helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. The limitations of the paper are the sole responsibility of the author.

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