The Effects of Direct Instruction on the Single-Word Reading Skills of Children Who Require Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Abstract

Current literature suggests a lack of empirically validated strategies for teaching reading skills to children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The current study implemented a single-subject, multiple-probe-across-subjects design to investigate the effects of direct instruction in single-word reading on the performance of students who use AAC. The instructional program targeted the reading skills of 5 participants who had severe speech impairments and ranged in age from 9 to 14 years old. All 5 participants reached criterion for matching targeted written words to corresponding pictures. Three of the 5 participants demonstrated generalization of reading skills to novel-word reading, and 4 of the 5 generalized reading skills to book contexts. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The state of research and practice in augmentative and alternative communication for children with developmental/intellectual disabilities

“…As a result, there is an increasing focus on best practices for AAC intervention with young toddlers [Cress and Marvin, 2003;Sevcik et al, 2004;Romski and Sevcik, 2005]. Extensive research now focuses on such topics as how to make aided communication more appropriate or transparent for toddlers and preschoolers , how to maximize vocabulary selection for youngsters using aided symbols [Fallon et al, 2001], how preschoolers with developmental delays learn symbols within the aided AAC mode [Barton et al, 2006], how to teach early literacy skills [Fallon et al, 2004], and how to facilitate collaborations among professionals serving very young children to enhance their inclusion in educational programs [Hunt et al, 2004].…”

Teaching Sound Letter Correspondence and Consonant-Vowel-Consonant Combinations to Young Children who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

“…An empirical literature base is emerging that includes active teacher-child interaction and direct teaching for teaching written language and phonological awareness to individuals who use AAC (e.g., Blischak, Shah, Lombardino, & Chiarella;Fallon, Light, McNaughton, Drager, & Hammer 2004;Truxler & O'Keefe, 2007). Common features of these interventions include the use of adaptations and naturalistic instructional strategies.…”

Intersubjetividade mãe-filho na experiência com comunicação ampliada e alternativa

“…Alguns trabalhos internacionais começam a valorizar o papel da família no processo de inserção desse recurso em sujeitos com limitações orais importantes [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] . Entretanto, pode-se observar que os artigos não valorizam a investigação sobre a função materna e a intersubjetividade mãe-lho, mas somente o processo de seleção do recurso (design e acessibilidade) [10][11][12][13] , os aspectos linguísticos 14,15 e foco único no usuário [16][17][18][19] . Em um ensaio teórico com foco na família 2 , foram criados contextos hipotéticos que retratam situações cotidianas na relação comunicacional.…”