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This week starts a series of a article I found at strokeconnection.org. I have broken down the article into three sections because it is lenghty. This week it will describe what AAC is. Next week will cover the Benefits and Challenges of AAC, followed by Selecting a Device the third week.
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Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) for Aphasia
Communicating When, Where and What You Want
The high and low tech of augmentative and alternative communication for aphasia
BY JON CASWELL
After stroke, community is important for recovery, and communication is key. “I have learned from my patients that the most important thing for them is communication,” said Miechelle McKelvey, Ph.D., CCC/SLP and professor and department chair in the communication disorders department at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. “I’ve had so many spouses of stroke survivors tell me: ‘I used to think the worst thing would be if he or she couldn’t walk. But I never really thought about them not being able to communicate.’ It’s how we connect with our loved ones and our community, even our pets. It’s how we connect with the world.”
Speech language pathologists (SLPs) are all for anything that supports survivors’ ability to connect with their world and those in it. “My goal is that a person should be able to communicate in any environment they step into, about any topic they choose, and with any communication partner,” McKelvey said.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods help make that happen. According to the American Speech Language and Hearing Association:
AAC includes all of the ways we share our ideas and feelings without talking. We all use forms of AAC every day. You use AAC when you use facial expressions or gestures instead of talking. You use AAC when you write a note and pass it to a friend or co-worker. We may not realize how often we communicate without talking.People with severe speech or language problems may need AAC to help them communicate. Some may use it all of the time. Others may say some words but use AAC for longer sentences or with people they don’t know well. AAC can help in school, at work and when talking with friends and family.
Types of AAC
AAC methods generally fall into two categories — high tech and low tech.
Low-tech AAC can be as simple as a notepad. One of McKelvey’s colleagues developed a small pocket calendar that, instead of dates, has word lists, sentences, phrases, topics or even pictures that a person could need to communicate. “Other types of low-tech or no-tech communication would be as simple as gestures or facial expressions,” McKelvey said. “Anything that a person would use to either support what they are communicating or that a communication partner would use to support someone with aphasia’s ability to understand what’s being communicated to them.”
“Low-tech AAC can include anything from actual pictures or photographs to a communication board,” said Michelle Gutmann, Ph.D., CCC-SLP and clinical professor in Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences at Purdue University. “You can either develop them and customize them, or there are some prefabricated ones on the market, from an emoticon [images that indicate emotions] rating scale, to something called a boogie board that is like a magic slate that can be written on but easily erased. Low-tech pretty much encompasses anything that is non-electronic.”
High-tech AAC encompasses electronic and computerized devices. “I think we have more options now because of two things that happened in terms of the research and the technology,” Gutmann said. “Starting in 2006, researchers started talking about ‘Visual Scene Displays.’ Visual Scene Displays are highly contextualized, personally meaningful and relevant pictures on a communication device that are used to help people with aphasia communicate. Then, there was the proliferation of mobile tablets that readily support the use of pictures and the many apps that support communication.”
Different mobile apps support communication in different ways. “Some applications have sentences and phrases that speak when the person presses a button,” McKelvey said. Some apps are as simple as a whiteboard surface that can be drawn or written on with a finger or stylus or an onscreen or peripheral keyboard can be helpful.
In addition to mobile apps, high-tech AAC also includes dedicated speech-generating devices. The sole purpose of these devices is to support communication, whereas a tablet supporting AAC apps also runs apps for other purposes.
Tobii Dynavox is an example of such a device. “A dedicated speech device would have presets and access to vocabulary,” McKelvey said. “Then it has to be personalized for the individual’s needs. Some apps can be customized but the features of the apps need to meet the needs of the user. The individuals with aphasia must be able to navigate through the app and locate what they want to say efficiently during the conversation. This can be a challenge for individuals with aphasia. It is important to have an AAC evaluation with an SLP to ensure this match between the needs and abilities of the person with aphasia and the features of the AAC system be it low-tech or high-tech.”
Both experts were clear that dedicated speech-generating devices are not necessarily better or worse than low-tech communication displays, notebooks and photographs. All can be useful for people with aphasia. “And every high-tech device needs a low-tech backup, something to use when the high-tech can’t be used,” Gutmann said. “Some people prefer low-tech because it requires whomever they’re talking with to be face-to-face with them, engaged with them right there and really involved in the communication. On the other hand, a high-tech system could allow somebody to prepare a message in advance. For example, going to a family reunion prepared to ask people how they’re doing and updating them about themselves.”
Next week will cover the Benefits and Challenges of AAC.
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Next week will cover the Benefits and Challenges of AAC.
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