This study examined the transparency and preference for two augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) symbol collections—Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) and VoiceSymbol (VS)—among typically developing, Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese children. Thirty children (15 boys, 15 girls) completed two tasks: a transparency measurement matching spoken Mandarin referents (verbs and adjectives) to symbols in a six-symbol array, and a preference measurement using pairwise selection between VS and PCS. The results indicate no statistically significant difference in transparency between the VS and PCS; however, PCS symbols showed slightly higher transparency scores. Conversely, children demonstrated a statistically significant and strong preference for VS over PCS. These findings suggest that symbol transparency alone may not fully determine symbol preference, as preference may be influenced by other factors. While limited by a modest sample size (N = 30) and specific referents, this study provides insights into symbol perception within Taiwanese communities. Future research should expand the sample size, age groups, and linguistic categories to further explore these trends.

Prior research has highlighted the positive impact of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) on speech and language development for children who cannot use speech alone. However, little is known about AAC use specifically for children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to identify and synthesize twenty years of research investigating AAC use in children with CAS and determine gaps. A systematic search strategy was employed to identify relevant literature in five databases. and full-text screening was conducted by all authors. Forward and backward citation chaining was completed resulting in a total of 11 eligible studies. Study results were synthesized within three categories: therapy focused, profile and perspective studies. All studies highlighted that early AAC intervention may optimize communication outcomes for children with CAS. Therapy focused studies demonstrated that AAC fulfills a complementary role in the management of CAS. Perspective studies demonstrated that there are a variety of factors which influenced a SLP’s decision making surrounding AAC implementation for children with CAS. While prior systematic reviews have demonstrated the positive impact of AAC on speech production broadly, this review uniquely focuses on AAC use in children with CAS.

Individuals with autism who are minimally speaking often use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Communication partner training is an integral element of AAC intervention, and caregivers are ideal communication partners for supporting their child’s language development. Asynchronous, online trainings may offer caregivers an accessible and flexible medium to learn to support their child’s AAC communication. The current study used a single-case randomized multiple-probe design to evaluate the effects of an asynchronous, online caregiver training on caregiver’s AAC strategy use in the context of shared book reading. Visual and statistical analyses were used to determine the presence and magnitude of effects. Four out of five caregivers acquired the target strategy. A functional relation was observed between the online training and caregiver strategy use in addition to individual components of the strategy (e.g., modeling). Tau-U nonoverlap calculations suggested medium to large effects of the intervention on caregiver strategy use. Asynchronous, online trainings may offer a valuable resource to caregivers of children who use AAC for communication, and caregivers may prefer the flexibility and accessibility that is associated with asynchronous trainings. Future research should work toward identifying how online programs can most effectively support widespread parent training and improve outcomes for children who require AAC.

This within-groups, repeated measures study examined differences in how accurately people with aphasia (PWA) described themes depicted in AAC displays (theme description accuracy), the types of descriptions they produced (action, naming, or combined action and naming messages), and their display preferences when viewing grids and visual scene displays (VSDs). Nineteen adults with aphasia participated in this study. Each participant viewed grids and VSDs with matched content (e.g., people, objects) presented on a computer monitor and described themes presented in each display. They then completed a display preference task. Results revealed that participants described VSDs themes correctly more often than grid themes; however, grids were described with partial correctness more often than VSDs. Additionally, both display types were described using verbs or verb phrases (action messages), more frequently than nouns or noun phrases (naming messages); however, VSDs were described using action messages more often than grids. Participants also reported greater preference for VSDs than grids. Study results support existing research that both grids and VSDs can effectively support communication for adults with aphasia; however, they may differ in their ability to represent action and naming messages. In addition, results indicate that PWA may prefer VSDs over grids.

This pilot study examines the effectiveness of an adapted literacy intervention focused on the acquisition of seven letter-sound correspondences (LSC) with a child with cerebral palsy who uses high-tech eye-gaze to communicate. A single case multiple probes across letter-sounds design was used. The independent variable was explicit instruction with materials that were adapted on the participant’s AAC device. Instruction was provided by a trained graduate student. The dependent variable was the child’s accuracy in identifying the correct letter from a high-tech eye-gaze grid of four letters, when provided with the letter-sound by the graduate student. Results indicated that the implementation of the literacy instruction by the graduate clinician was effective in teaching seven LSCs to the child with cerebral palsy who uses high-tech eye-gaze to communicate and participate in instruction. The participant demonstrated gains for all targeted LSCs and positive trends continued after the intervention was introduced through replications of each new LSC. Average gain scores ranged from +60% to +90%. Calculation of IRD was 1.0 across all LSCs, indicative of a very large effect. The student’s gains in this pilot study indicate the promise of adapted literacy instruction for individuals with severe speech and motor impairments, who use alternative access to participate in literacy instruction. More literacy research is needed for learners who use AAC and alternative access methods.

Adults with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities who are beginning communicators can benefit from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of just-in-time programming of visual scene displays during ongoing interactions in an AAC intervention with adults who were beginning communicators. A single subject multiple probe design across four adult participants (ages 29–48) was used to evaluate the intervention. The intervention consisted of the creation of visual scene displays on a tablet computer while engaging the participants with songs, books, and games using just-in-time programming during the activities. Participants completed a minimum of five baseline and five intervention sessions. All participants demonstrated an increase in intentional and conventional communication turns during social interaction when the intervention was implemented. None of the participants discontinued using other intentional and conventional communication modes upon introduction to the tablet system. This intervention approach holds promise for adults with severe disabilities who remain at a beginning communicator level in young and middle adulthood. It is never too late for AAC intervention for any individual.

The current scoping review aims to map the existing research on aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions in India, identify the gaps in the existing literature, and guide future research priorities. A comprehensive search between 1992 and 2022 yielded 39 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Studies were summarized in terms of publication details, treatment settings and geographical distribution, participant characteristics, study purpose, research design, dependent variables, outcome measures, independent variables, study findings, and quality appraisal. A relatively large proportion of studies originated from the southern part of India. A considerable increase was noted in the number of intervention studies published over the last decade. Most of the intervention studies followed a quasi-experimental or a case study design and focused on investigating the effect of training on an AAC system on the performance of individuals with communication disorders. Largely, all studies reported positive effects of AAC intervention; however, based on the quality appraisal, only a handful of studies adhered to high standards. Hence, to elevate the quality of AAC intervention research in India, it is imperative to employ robust methodologies in future studies.

Low-tech core boards with attached fringe vocabulary are increasingly popular as an entry-level AAC system in New Zealand and beyond, but they require skilled support from communication partners to be used successfully. This article describes the results of a year-long multiple case study carried out in New Zealand, which involved the provision of a 77-cell core board with extensive fringe vocabulary for six preschool children, alongside a training and coaching intervention for one of their parents. This intervention combined group workshops with in-home coaching and provided ongoing maintenance coaching. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected throughout the year, which provided information on the progress of both the parents and the children, as well as exploring each parent’s journey with implementing AAC. All the parents learned to use the supportive AAC strategies with consistency and skill and maintained these over the year and their children made significant gains in their communication skills. The parents reported on a range of barriers and supports around implementing AAC; all six parents felt that the training and coaching intervention was essential for the successful implementation of the core board.

In research, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions have primarily focused on teaching children to make requests; however, AAC intervention should not stop there. There is a dearth of AAC intervention research targeting other communicative functions, despite there being a significant need to enhance children’s communication competence in a variety of social and educational contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine the initial efficacy and feasibility of an AAC narrative intervention on the picture-supported retelling skills of three children with autism, aged 6–9 years old. This multiple baseline across participants design study was preregistered at Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/29SFP). We measured the effect of the intervention on children’s inclusion and complexity of story grammar elements and the variety of symbols used to retell untrained stories during a baseline condition, just before each intervention session, immediately following each intervention session, and three weeks after the last intervention session. Parents completed a feasibility questionnaire and documented their children’s generalized use of AAC. The AAC narrative intervention improved children’s AAC retells, with ascending trends in the intervention condition and scores elevated above baseline after 3 weeks. Parents reported that they perceived the intervention to be appropriate, effective, enjoyable, and planned to use it themselves after the study. Generalized use of AAC outside of intervention sessions was documented for all three participants.