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Abstract
Purpose. The study described here investigates the practice of anticipatory completion of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) utterances in progress. The aims were to identify and analyse features of this practice as they occur in natural conversation between a person using an AAC system and a family member.
Method. The methods and principles of Conversation Analysis (CA) were used to video record conversations between people with progressive neurological diseases and a progressive speech disorder (dysarthria) and their family members. Key features of interaction were identified and extracts transcribed. Four extracts of talk between a man with motor neurone disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and his mother are presented here.
Results. Anticipatory completion of AAC utterances is intimately related to the sequential context in which such utterances occur. Difficulties can arise from topic shifts, understanding the intended action of an AAC word in progress and in recognising the possible end point an utterance.
Conclusions. The analysis highlights the importance of understanding how AAC talk works in everyday interaction. The role of co-participants is particularly important here. These results may have implications for both AAC software design and clinical intervention.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the participants involved in this research and their referring clinicians. Gratitude is also extended to the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and feedback. This work is produced under the terms of the post-doctoral research training fellowship issued by the NIHR. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NHS, The National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health.