Operational Demands of AAC Mobile Technology Applications on Programming Vocabulary and Engagement During Professional and Child Interactions

ABSTRACT

Typically, the vocabulary in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies is pre-programmed by manufacturers or by parents and professionals outside of daily interactions. Because vocabulary needs are difficult to predict, young children who use aided AAC often do not have access to vocabulary concepts as the need and interest arises in their daily interactions, limiting their vocabulary acquisition and use. Ideally, parents and professionals would be able to add vocabulary to AAC technologies “just-in-time” as required during daily interactions. This study compared the effects of two AAC applications for mobile technologies: GoTalk Now (which required more programming steps) and EasyVSD (which required fewer programming steps) on the number of visual scene displays (VSDs) and hotspots created in 10-min interactions between eight professionals and preschool-aged children with typical development. The results indicated that, although all of the professionals were able to create VSDs and add vocabulary during interactions with the children, they created more VSDs and hotspots with the app with fewer programming steps than with the one with more steps, and child engagement and programming participation levels were high with both apps, but higher levels for both variables were observed with the app with fewer programming steps than with the one with more steps. These results suggest that apps with fewer programming steps may reduce operational demands and better support professionals to (a) respond to the child’s input, (b) use just-in-time programming during interactions, (c) provide access to more vocabulary, and (d) increase participation.

Keywords:

• Apps
• augmentative and alternative communication
• visual scene displays
• programming
• mobile technology

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to offer their gratitude and thanks to the participants who contributed their time, experiences, and ideas.

Portions of this article were submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of PhD requirements at The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Disorders.

Disclosure statement

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

Funding information

This project was supported, in part, by funding from (a) the Penn State AAC Leadership Project, a doctoral training grant funded by U.S. Department of Education grant #H325D110008, (b) the Hintz Family Endowed Chair in Children’s Communicative Competence, (c) the New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, and (d) the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (RERC on AAC), under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number H133E140026); NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The content does not necessarily represent the policy of these funding agencies; readers should not assume endorsement by these agencies.

Notes

1 Apps include third party software developed for mobile technologies.

2 EasyVSD is an AAC application created by InvoTek, Inc. http://www.invotek.org/.

3 The Dynavox Vmax is a voice output communication device. http://www.dynavoxtech.com/tobii-dynavox/.

4 Speaking Dynamically Pro is software with dynamic capabilities that allows a computer to be used as a speech output device, http://www.mayer-johnson.com/boardmaker-with-speaking-dynamically-pro-v-6.

5 GoTalk Now is an AAC application created by Attainment Company. http://www.attainmentcompany.com/gotalk-now.

6 AutisMate is an AAC application created by Special NeedsWare. http://autismate.com/.

7 Facebook is an online social networking service. www.facebook.com.

8 Twitter is a social networking site that allows users to send and read messages with a maximum of 140 characters. https://twitter.com/.

9 iPad Air is the fifth-generation iPad tablet computer, developed by Apple Inc. www.apple.com.

10 Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is an Android tablet computer, developed by Samsung Electronics. www.samsung.com.