Validation of an Inventory of Best Practices in the Provision of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Services to Students With Severe Disabilities in General Education Classrooms

Abstract

Possible uses of the inventory are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

Teachers’ perceptions of implementation of aided AAC to support expressive communication in South African special schools: a pilot investigation

“…Lack of availability of or support from other team members may have led teachers in the current study to take up more of the tasks that otherwise may have been spread across different team members. Many teachers felt that teaching the use of aided AAC was their role, echoing best practice recommendations that AAC training needs to take place in classroom contexts rather than in isolation and should form an integral part of the curriculum (Calculator & Black, 2009;Soto, 1997). While nearly all teachers felt that creating opportunities for aided AAC use during lessons was part of their role, less than half felt that they should also encourage its use to promote social peer interaction.…”

“…Family-centered, collaborative practice has been highlighted as a cornerstone of successful AAC intervention (Alant, 2005;Calculator & Black, 2009;Hunt et al, 2002), and a lack of parental involvement can lead to discrepancies in priorities regarding AAC intervention, and a poor fit between the aided AAC and the family's interaction patterns and life style (Goldbart & Marshall, 2004;Naraian, 2010;Pickl, 2011). Of the eight schools included in this study, four offered residential facilities to students.…”

“…We devised the remaining questions based on a review of previous research regarding teachers' perceptions and experiences of AAC implementation (Calculator & Black, 2009;Hunt et al, 2002;Kent-Walsh & Light, 2003;Soto, 1997). These questions pertained to teachers' perceptions about the usefulness of aided AAC, their role and competence in implementation, the challenges they experienced, the support they received during the process, and their training needs.…”

Parent and Teacher Perspectives on Friendships and Social Interactions of Secondary Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

“…Fourth, the participants described utilizing social strategies that were evidence-based and considered "best practices" for students with significant intellectual and developmental disability (Browder, Wood, Thompson, & Ribuffo, 2014). Among the most frequently mentioned were social skills instruction (Bellini, Peters, Benner, & Hopf, 2007), inclusive education (Fisher & Meyer, 2002), augmentative alternative communication (Calculator & Black, 2009), and peer supports (Carter, Sisco, Chung, & Stanton-Chapman, 2010). This was an encouraging finding, but it also raises the question of why social outcomes remained poor despite use of evidencebased practices.…”

Parents' Perceptions of Communication Patterns and Effectiveness of Use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems by Their Children With Angelman Syndrome

“…Most of the items included in this survey corresponded to a set of practices an earlier expert panel deemed best practices in providing AAC services to the broader population of students with severe disabilities (Calculator & Black, 2009). These practices, which resulted from an exhaustive search of the corresponding literature, were subsequently found to reflect the preferences of a group of 32 parents of individuals with AS (Calculator & Black, 2010).…”