Help Me Chat: Eliciting Communicative Acts from Young Children Using Speech-Generating Devices Thesis

(2016). Help Me Chat: Eliciting Communicative Acts from Young Children Using Speech-Generating Devices . 10.25148/etd.FIDC000782

thesis or dissertation chair

authors

  • Hernandez-Cartaya, Rebecca A.

abstract

  • Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an evidence-based practice targeting the communication deficits of children with complex communication needs (CCN). While young children with communication disorders are attending preschool and using AAC, and specifically speech-generating devices (SGDs), with increasing frequency, best practices for implementation with this population are largely unexplored. In an effort to contribute to the knowledge base for teachers, the essential communication partners for children in the classroom setting, this research explored the interactions of four teacher-child dyads and analyzed the prompts and cues used to elicit communicative acts from the children.

    Results of statistical and descriptive analyses revealed that, while teachers overwhelmingly favor and use verbal prompts over other stimuli, these prompts were no more effective in eliciting communicative acts. These results indicate that teachers would benefit from instruction in a variety of techniques for enhancing communication via AAC; future research directions towards this purpose are detailed.

publication date

  • July 8, 2016

keywords

  • augmentative and alternative communication
  • complex communication needs
  • cueing
  • preschool
  • prompting
  • speech-generating devices
  • teacher-implemented interventions

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)