Publisher'sAuthorized Copy

ntative Communication News

INSIDE T H I SI S S U E . .
ClinicalNews Rrl.{

Augmentativ6Communicaiion,

vol. I, No.5 Novcmbcr,1988

News Clinical
Vocabulary Selectlon: Cunent Praclicesand I Gllmpseat the Future

Vocabulary Selection: Issues, Techniques, Tips and AuditoryScanning Techniques: ListenerAssisted Automatic and
Augmentative Communication Service

Equipment

lffil
ty and Research

Ontario. CANADA in States theUSA Prepare Change for

Vocabularyis definedasthe "stockof wordqUSED by a particular person."'Crystal(1986a) said vocabularyis the problem that in curreqtlymosthindersprogress AAC." Without an abilityto speak, spell,or usesignlanguage, access to languageremainsforever restricted. Selccting "right" the wordsand phrases critical.For is who can spell,communicaLhose lion restrictions existbecause still letter-byJetter spellingis so slow. Selecting vocabulary enhancc to rate becomes challenge. The the vocabularyselectionprocessin AAC is an attemptto find the lexicon and strategies "best'enable that individuals do what theyneedto. to Vocabulary selection is a BIG topic and the more I talked to people,read and thoughtaboutit, the biggerit got. Here'ssome reasons why! o Vocabulary selection decisions necessarily includeconsidcration of multiplevariables: the pcrsoual indrvidaal(needs, style,goals,preferences, capabilities); the conterrs within whichcommunication occursipaftnerti eqtipmal featurcsi an.d communication the ,4sft(r,)that need to be accomplished. o Research that demonstrates (invocabularies individuals of cluding thosewho use AAC arc techniques) unique, idiosyncratigand dynamic.' vocabularies Ready-made or lists"(i.c., conpilcd "source ti6ts
lrcm languagasamplcsfrom spccilicd group6,*ord frcqucnqf lists, suwc'rs, judgmcnts, subicctivr dictionarics, cur(continucdon p.gc 2) ricula,

UPFRONT
A primaryfocusofthis issue is the process vocabulary selection, of particularlyfor individuals unable to spell.In preparingClinical News I learncdanewthe meaning of phrases box,' "opcningPandora's "the "awcsome," expanding universe.n Ever feel like the more you learnthe lessyou know?If Gary Poock,your publisher,had not gentlyremindedme that November wasalmost over,yoar editor mig}at Many still be massaging issue. this thanksto the clinicians and researchers who shared their philosophies, rescarch experiences, (scc results, and practices. rcfcrcncts
and rsouracs)

familiarwith the techniclinicians que,and a description commerof programs. ciallyavailable The Universityand Research research sectionhighlights activities at the Augrnentative CommunicaThe staffof tion Service Canada. in programcontinues thiswell-known to contribute excitingresearchto AAC. Again, the Govcrnmentalsection focuseson the U. S. (This will not continueindlinitely.) in However. subscribsrs the U.S. facetimesof uncertainty and change.We haveelecteda new president who hasn'ttold usmuch aboutwhat he may(or maynot) do for disabledcitizens.We havenew facesin Congress and havelost a majorsupporter, Sen.l.owell We Wcickerfrom Connecticut. havea new law (P.L. #1m-'|{)7),a USSAAC,the neworganization p9 U.S.Chapterof ISAAC, (conr. 2)

In lhe Equipmcntsection, auditoryscanning are techniques explored.Yoir'll find basicinformation aboutthis methodofaccessing messages,composite a "wishlist" of desircdfeatures auditorvscanin ningprograms from mastei

Augmentative C.ommunication News

,l: t
percent only a rcpresents wordssPoken of the different veryYoung eachday,by However,if the right children." in500wordsare selected, very can dividuals become powerfulcommunicators. of are r Vocabularies comPrised words, a list of (a) "core"+ and which occurfrequentlY utilitY mayhavesomeuniversal and (b) "fringe"**words, for which are necessary a Parin ticular individu-al particular Fringewords circumstances.) are oftendictatedby an interests, individual's activities. and environment, personal
styl. Not:Thc |norc!"..iablc a person's lifestylc,lhcmo.c uniqucand vocabulary litely lo be' is dynamic

andnewhope for the future. to We enjoyedthe opportunitY seeandtalk with manyACN subfrom aroundthe world at scribers in the ISAAC Conference Anaheim.Thanksso muchfor the about comments cnthusiastic ACN. Someof you wcre evenable to visit us in Montereyafter the That wasgeat fun! conference. beganwith lfyour subscription Vol. 1, #1, you mayfind a renewal lfso, it means noticein thisissue. ends your l-year subscription Don't let AFTER the ncxt issue. Justfill out the that happen! form and sendit in enclossd includethe label today.Please uPso from this issue we caneasilY ThankYou dateyour subscription, supverymuchfor your continued port. Tell a friend 1osubscribe! wishyou Finally,we sincerely andyour familygreathappi pcace, joy duringthe holidaY and Keepin touch!Remcmbcr season. is thc HOTLINE number 1 rL (408)649-3050. (cont.) YmabularySelection
vocabularystorcd in AAC dcviccs,and

cogniaidsplacelittle understood tive,visual,auditoryand social on demands usersand their Technological advances partners. the shouldincrease sizeof an vocabulary and individual's lhe decrease amountof time reHowcver, quired to sendmessages. makeselection, larservocabularies -ring"t"ol, slotuge,and retrieval and a muchmorecomnlicated time process. consumlng

stateof the Practice

with During lelephoneingcrviews moslof whom l2 master clinicians.' work in AAC Centcrs,I askedtwo '1.. questions: how do you selectan in' itial vocabulary clienlsunablelo for spell?and2.how do you subit? ieqrcntlyupdate The sampleis are but the resulis interesling. small, lnitial Selection were Two basicapproaches SomebeginbYidentiffdescribed. /isl ing a contprehensite of words, phrases, From this list, smaller etc. for are vocabularies generated training.Othersbcginby identiSing a snrallsel of vocabularyrelated 'fhis to a specifrcconten or activity. group gradually addsnewacand tivilies/contexts related Although lhcseaPvocabulary. mayappcarjuxtaposcd, proaches in clinicians both groupsagreean to approach vocabularY organizcd and selection necessary, i5 selection vocabulary iino! an end in itself.Appropriatelyselected maybe our beststrategy vocabulary for teaching powerand the pleasure communication. of decisions suggests Beukelmano vocabularY aboutan individual's shouldbe madeafter investigating the following:
use .1.Whal othcrsin similarsiluations (c g, &jpaaking Pccrsin thc nonspcaking in iunctiroom,"patichts inicnsivccarcunils) lhink nccdsto bc used 2. Whal partners (e.8., partnts,tcachc6,sPousc). 3. What is alrcadvbcinc uscdlo communr' catc(c.g.,all modalitiet. (c.9., dcmands 4. what arc thc contcxtual on dudngm.th class, lhc bus).

or soonlmaybe a "guide" but "placeto start," vocabularies mustbe inuPand dividualized constantly dated.This is a clinicallytimedemandirg task. consuming, selecvocabulary o Obviously, disfor tion issues a physically just abledthree-year-old learnare ing language differentfrom retarded thoseof a severely a ten-year-old, hcad-injured in adult recovering a hospital, returning an adultwith aphasia to work,and so on. who useaugmentar Nonspellers to tive aids rarely haveaccss This more than 5fi) svmbols.

competent, o Conversationally do aidedcommunicators not in use"vocabularies" ihe same wayasnormalspeaking Peracofdevices, Features sons. and cess techniques, outPutoPcan tionsaffecthow language nchatbe used.For example ting",joking,free-formcommentsandquipsoccurfar less In frequently. addition,certain itcmsthat repair vocabulary breakdowns, convcrsalional etc. maintaindiscourse, are likely to be uniqueto the of vocabularies AAC users' o Unlike the humanbrain where is language stored& retrieved withouteffort.a finitc amount in is ofspace/time available machines on overlays. and rctrieval,andrate enStorage, for hancement techniques and non-electronic electronic

nnd importanl " Frincc lists mavbc largc wilh ncw words ions. addcdlor panicularsituat frcqucn'ilv of'con. arc Therv inadc up alriocl crclusivcly (nouits, verbs, adjcctives) tcnt'wods'

The twelve clinicians reported usinga total of 13different

Tablel. Techniques used by mastercliniciansto selectinitialvocabularies nonspellers. for

l$qo (femilv. l. Conduct structured, facc-ro-f.cc intcrvicwswith caracivcE sDccch languagc and For crricivcri - patholoqisls. tcachcrs). cxamolc. ait askdia tould talk,whal$ould 4.v."OuesribnirJG st .ucl urcd by-aontcxl/cnvi ronmcnt. comfrirnicativc function (how docs gel information').semanlic (placcs, category itc. Foplc, foods), 2. Conduct struclurcdintervicwrrilhindividual. Notc: rsDofiics wcredcpcndent clicnCs & abilitiqr. on agc 3. Dircctly observeindividua! io natural contdt/rolc-playing activity. 4. Rcviewvocabulary from an availablc sou.cclist(s). 5. Ask carcgivcrs tocompletca qucstionnairc. 6. Observc normalspcaking indMdualsin thc samcactivity. 7. Ask cargivcr mainlaina communication to diary. 8. Ask in{ividua! ro-se srmbols lhCtl4nl ro usc from a book of lcct glvtncDrcs(hoolcrs sfnDo|s.Nole: fattn (lrtson leDoats thia rasponsibility. lrics to infludncc Shc s;lectioittosomcdeqrcc:howcvcr. lhq[inal decision thc child's.Clinicianinitiatcdboardsirc irsedfor is leachingladguageand toaccomplishothcrgoals.. 9. Obscrve whatvocabulary adult & pecrsdccdto providcmodels, 10.Dcvelop(with carcgivcr) scriptfora contcxr. a I L Ask cargivers prepa a list of locabulary (words,tcttcrs. lo rc pnr?scs, numDcrs! sentenccs, nceoeo. 12.Rcview prcvious recods. 13.Crdduct (ortrain caregivc to conducl)a formalcnvironmcntal r nvcntory. 6. Cl Jcgivcrprefcrcnces 7. Ccnericvalucof individual qmbols. 8. Vocabulary th.t pcrmirr;aidcdstimulatior' (cliniciin modcling)'" 9. Efficicncy and clfcctivcncss exoression of in diffrent-modcs

us lrtttn a

ture on the nua generation AAC of devices. In a recentpaper,Romskiand Sevcik" report evaluating the utility of client vocabularyby taking language samples regularinterat valsin the classroom analyzing and the sampleaccording frequency to of occurrence, function,outcom, and partnerresponses. They also testcomprehension,4nd production of svmbols. Romski'" feeli carigivers should be provided with thesedata on a regularbasis rather than generate Objective it. data help them to make better choices. The Future An enormous amountof clinical time and effort is expended selecting and expanding vocabularies for individuals unableto selecttheir own.However,the efficacyof approaches useis not yet known, we This section reviews somecurrent research activities.
Nolc: lhcscrcsaarchcF aclivclvcolaI! laborutincwithonc anothcrin an Eftortlo prvidc in=formation aboutvoaabulary sclcllon rssucs.

61Vo 42qo 33Vo 25 25Vo 25Vo 89o

EVo 8Vo l6qo | 1 gVo 8Vo

. TableI provides brief a description ofeach technique and the oumberandpercentof clinicians who reportedusingit. Note that interviewing caregivers is the onfy technique meneveryone tiooed.Allhough client characteristics and the typeofclinical setting clearlyinfl uence selection techniques,mostclinicians report using the samecombination familiar of techniques across their clients, After generating initial list, an these12 masterclinician'stake anotherlook at it. They reported refining,prioritizing and balancing vocabulary accordingto the following factors:
1. l-anguagc dcvelopment 2. Ability of-clicntto cxprcss: a.mngcofcomtnunraltvc luncllons: communrcatton powcr;indMdual6tylc& F.sonality 3. Motiwtionalvaluc of ilcms ,ralidation 4. Social scalcrcsults9 5. ProrisionofsDecific AAC strategies: cni.bling individualfto addwords,dali.ibc nt Inon (c.g, colols,soundswordsnot a!.ailablc rqs lilic), 'tpair brcrtdoc.i's,instructions sJsfo.

Updatlng Recognizing dynamic the and ongoingnatureofvocabulary selection, mostof the clinicians trained caregivers assume 10 majorrcsponsibilityfor updating vocabulary. Somesetup strucluredtimesto reviewvocabulary with individuals and caregivers regularintervals, at A few observe actualuse, ldcally, updating individual's an vocabulary means knowingwhat itemsare used,not used, how frequently underwhatcircumstanand ccs,aswell aswhat itemswill be ncededin the future.Thesedata couldbe collected by andanalyzed (evencommunication machines devices!), well asby people, as However, rarelyoccurs. this Perlnps nwu[acnlrcrs will beginto

A major focusof currentresearch the useofvocabulary is sourcelists.In clinicalpractice, however,only V3 of those interviewedreportedusingliststo select vocabulary. the upcoming In December, 198{lissueof AAC, an article by Yorkston,Dowdp-n, Honsinger,Marriner, & Smith'r describes "source 11 lists."Each list was comparedto words from the vocabularies 9 nonspeaking of physically disabledcommunication (Notc: aid users, subjccts s yaricty uscd
ofdiffcrcnt aidsand mcrhods tnbolizrof

rion). Bpidlf: ,L Errarsive overlap wasnot obsenedacrosslists,2. Nearly I /3 of wordsin user vocabulaies werenol found h everr lhe largestlist. 3. The aulhorssuggested be Iunher research caqicd oul to contpile clinically usefulsourxe /rJtJ.
Notc: ln additionto this arti.lc. a wcll{rganizcd bibliograDhy sourccvocabularics of is a'lailablc fro,'m fhiTracc Crntc.,l4 Watch Sclcction: Case A &!C alsofor Vocabulary Rcporr,whichconcludqrsource lisls'may Dc codsidcrcd ncccssarv not sufficicnta but aspcct vocabulary lcclion.'15 of sf (conlinucdpagc5)

Augrnentauvc Communication News

,i,
required" activeparlner ineolvemenl duinglace lo Iaee inleraclion. are Major disadvantages a linited can numberol communicolionlas,1d rennin ar,du,s,ers bc accomplished on dependenl patlnen. 2. Automatic Usershit a switchand a machine message units by scans spcaking senteo(e.g.,letters, words,phrases, of ces).Major advantages AS automatic are an abilityto store accomPlisha and retieve messages, rangeof communicalionlasks arl.d , p nt contmuni cate more inde ende ly. Disadvantages a lack of porare labiw cost,and slournles. of To learnthe mechanics an AS program, syjlematic.lEitritrsif is bothusers partners essential. and in Traininglsomc ttrc of timc) natural is advised. environments strongly

Equipment
(AS) Scanning Auditory Techniques
physical For thosewith severe who are alsoblind or disabilities * visuallyimpaired * ' (i.e., severely print blind, crrlically blind, visually unstable. unableto hold their or to headstill enough usevisualscan(AS) is an ning),auditoryscanning option,particularyif morsecode cannol be usedor learned. providcsacAuditory scanning io cess messages a serial(one al to a time) rather than parallel(all Therefore,AS is together)manner. nol,l repeal,NOT a preferred mesmethodby which to access It sages. is slow,and cognitive demands both the uscrand lison made the tenerexceed der4;rnds For with visualscanning.'o example,AS doesnot permit lhe uset to locatethe desiredtargetin adthe vanceandthus,anticipate need optimal typical and To to respond. datc,
transmissionlsing As ratesfor message a.e tcchniques not doclmcnlcd.Cognitivc and attcntion,mcmory,retrieval, skills(e.g., nccdedlo operaleAS categonzalion) dcviccscffeclivcly arc not dcfi[cd.).

lll. Table Treebranch lor

ALPHABts,I
Li$:

E,T,R,A,N A.B,C,D I,O,U S,H,Y E,F,G,H I,J,K,L

M,N,O,P O,R,S,T. V,WX,Y,Z

Desited Features I compilcdthe following'wish afterspcaklist"for AS equipment and ing wit[master clinicians others.-1. Porrability 2. lntclligibilityof voice for categories a Par3. Abilitylo preslecl ticularsitual|on. (for 4. visual aswell asauditoryfeedback facilitator) 5. Ediringfealures

lssues Vocabulary
are If morethan a lew messagcs necdcd,a lree branchconfiguration is typicallyusedto arrange and A vocabulary. list ofvocabulary bc its locations should maintained. and are Vocabularies organized to taughtin waysmcaningful the rcport organizing uscr.Clinicians by contextand/orsemantic includTheyalsosuggest catcgory. for inga geneiccalegory face-towith lacecommunication greclings, repairand mainconversational vocabulary. tenance the For literateindividuals, albe phabetshouldalways includcd strategies andrate enhancement [rlter arrangments considered. mayvaryin format(e.g.,a to z, frequcncyof occurrence, QWERTY as array,or a combination illustratedin TableIII abovc.) List 1 contains mostfrethe letters.List 2 and quentlyoccurring 3 dividein halt ALL the lettersin and the alphabet, repeatthosein makes it List l. This arrangement cognitive taskfor users an easier andpartners,
"" Ateam from Caotonlnstitutefoa c, R.hab..Po lhx m2l.'colorado SpringF, 80933 sharcdmanvidcas AS attheir on ContaclP. Ande6on ISAAC mini.scminar. (719) 630-5000.

6. Ability lo uscmultiPleswilchcs lo and 7. Adequale.slomgc rclrievalcaPaciry llextDll||y Insure Forxample, featutcs. 8, Ralc enhanccmenl (a) A vervraDid$an unlil usrhcarsitein -fhen, th lasl few ilems ina hits lhc i*'ilch. mof slowlvuntil lhe desired arc reoeated item ii hearda sccondtim bv fbl Prediction comDulctsoft$?re Bc lct Abbreviatioi expahsion. care[ul.this canDeconluslng (d) Presctcclinc_conlexls/caleqorics codes (e! shoncningiategorynamea.using (users shouldhelp sclcclcooes, casc 9. Usei friendlinees/programming a._ 10.VoicccontroloDlionsfor usct (e.q., exconirol,differcntvoicEs, ohone.volumc ie mal speake$) ll. AbiliN lo carryout vadouscommuntcacontrol, tion taski{writini, cnvironmenlal -to-[acc conve ion) rsat r compute ircccss,Tacc t2. Abiliry for userlo shift tasks cosl 13.Reasonable for equipmcnt/training
Nolc: Scc also a chapler by Fried-Okcn. for furth r dis(ussion ofAS l6chniques.2l

AS Neverthelcss, is a viableoption, only optiot , maybe an individual's consideration. anddeserves

Types ASrechniquesle ot
1.Listener- Assisted Parlners typicallyread from a (e.g., smallchart.The usersignals by blinking or nodding) when the Charts is desiredmessage spoken.

Pleasc rcad the calgoriciwril lcn in tcd slowly. Whcn t blink.sloD6 bcqinto rcad thc words/lcttcFundcr lhc fod word.Whcn I blink ny lfl again, rcadmy messagc. clo6a aycs,.il mean6 shouldslan agaln.Lel a lly lt a lcw wc rimcs.lt takersomco.aEticc!!

AS Lislenerassistcd is morecffiOthcr cientthan"Z) Questions." of advantages ponability, ease are use,low cosl, mininol eEtipnent
enincludc:anoxic r, bmin stemandcentral |agcscco_rdary . .. to dis-

Auditory Scanning Devices based Non.computer Loop tapesand similardcviccs (sec ACNvol.I , # 4) are effectivefor aid, useasa limitcdcommunication for training,and asa tool to facilitateinteraction. tho6c Computer-based(Note:
vobabulary) dcscdbrdusaa trcc-brdnch

10.. ^ vocabutary in3-lev"k. _ .

(home,school),10k_ey Categoriea (t'm words(mom), and 10 phrases hungry lct's eat).oonJohnsron Developmenrat lnc. Equipment, P.o.Box , l15, 63e, N.R.nd Blds. wauconda 1000 Rd.,

v"ffiffi.

rypi"{iiil;;:

iloffi.o.oin" is availableuDonrc,o Gordon, u"vid Audio P;','$o,,hf:il*11c":?L'i"""' ::L:iJ"",,f:ig*:,ii;;;ttt t.' S.an for lhe Sca-n Pac chicaso, r. Alan
tXTL$i"i\1c;,"lfil.1f,3i'i'r*tfl,i. ' i;6;4il Fi-i52liiAir-iie:znA. Insrirure Rchabiritarion of strcet' Bro*"t cnrcr, Frst 345 suprior
(316) lL 649-2556 Chicago, 60611

Auditory scaniing althcsizer. $135. phanumeric marrixdisilay and riser lpecific word, phrar", i"nlan.", quick A1so, storagc and-relrieval. retrievalof'cmcrgenq/ me:lages

1*i::,:.*:n""*t:nr Arnuc, Boston, llTl::!ry_PiglY (617) MA02115 ?35-870 Maker(scanning vcr_ Message .ion) - e"ppt" tt" oi tIc. ncifak,

t:J,:L tq t: .n l":g:! !:'. ctinic' 1l childrcr's

foiphrase _ Citegories berized). use Usercanspell, words, storage.

or phrases. Mcssagesup to 200

".#ffi-. *i,ll'l!f#,Xi1i3"

models). voiccsynSmoolhTalker (or thesizer anyserialporl syn6nly. thcsizer). $595'forsoftware [r*l a illo*t userto preselea-up The to 25 "contexts." lowcr 3 lcvcls cue containcategorics, words,and Earphone finatlywordsTphrases. and diftercntvoicesare options. b)4 communication DisrriburedAdaprivc
Slslems, (addrcss Inc above) Nole: T\r'o sDeech-lansuace Darhorosists.

Apole ffc VoGl-synthe'sizers)-or (Cricketipeechsynittesizii)'$qo' 3' levels'Disksmaycontainup to 10 10categories, senlencel,pcl [or blanks" category. Sentences-have wordsto bc inserted'During scanning wordsor phrases read arc the "quiclly."-However, selected,, nmorcloudly " is message spoken
St'racuse' NIY Enhance' Court 1603 Strcet' (315) 13208' 455'?591

or /' rI+, (Echo .s'r -Apprc e,

:Il:l::::*

printed' 'rcaied'

8nspokenand saved'c'mmunicarion clinic abo\rc) hancemnI (addr'ss Tolking Sconner Apple lle. Firmwarecard Echo synedaptive Availablewith "new" thesizer. firmwarccardsor complimentary Allows creationof upon reques!. arraysthat cistomizedscanning w6rkswith most talk. Thc scanner
programs lhat don't Usc the exicndcd 80 column card thcmselves'

-Apple or yillf"iliffI#niLllfi-T$tf"U*. s!t|.sp!:q.k rre .. settn Il.S""rutt,E"ho,vitraxsyn-, iiiiiFi"!',i.i;irr;;iilri;;i.:$r;iiw;ii;#

,. iin:',,;li$"Yr";f3jilli,ff'"i"#ff"0*1, "'i!1'r'li'iiiiri""'i'ii;iii;;:i.y'i;;.i!.;6-" oirill(415) f,?Ai'fliii; Bliyanri'n
(conl.) VocabularJ Slction Morrowt6comparedthree vocabulary techniques to selcction for dctermine which accounted the largestnumberofthe words physicalfor selecled 6 nonspeaking ly disabled childrenby a parent, leacherandspeech-language (N pathologist : 18informants). Eachinformantwasaskedto select by vocabulary the child/student for listingwordson a (a) blanksheetof (c) papcr,(b) by category, chccking off wordsfrom a'source list." Restits: 1.All infomnnls cotrtibuted wods-A lthougltspcecblan gnge pathologistsco,ttibuaedtlrc grcatesl nber of words,leachen tn atul paru s providednranyi,rgortant "fitrye" words.2. h{onnants pretenedusitrgsourceliststo otlrcr selectionteclviques. 3. Thesource list techniEteyielded a laryer list o! vocobulory. Fried-Okenl? i. Melanie of single. ly dcveloping data-base "urr"nta vocabularyfor word exprcssive who usecomchildren3-6years

has thesizcrs.. Opcrator display $?5.

options(i.e.,canscleclno display,

AdaPrive ril;tiii'To" PcriPhcrars' .l ft::l[)"#*,T#'&,0o0.,"*oo. iiiri"i.i"ijiiiii,?iii"r"r

iiiriJi"Jb:y n."
(sce t4uipmenr above) 2-yearprojecl fundcdby Apple Thc goalis to developa Computer. Tool Boxto assist computerizcd to clinicians selcctvocabulary. for Bricfly,software lhe Macintosh to computcrwill be developed providc:
based vocabulary Tool #l -a contcxluallvdatabasc.clinicianswill bc abletospecio cortcr8dfa the aseand environmcntal clienaand fora lisl of the mo6tcommotr asl words.usd norspeaking spcaking bt and oceas slmrlarsrtua ln uons. analyzcr. ftcquencv Tool #2 - a vocabularv clinicianswill be ablito "dumo'lancuace (eirhcrbv rvDine thenfin orTroil samDles of an anvhscll filc) aid-rtcer-vc analtsis wdrd and phra; frcquency mo're. and Informanls Tool #3 - a quidcdinterview. will be ablc io work wilh wordsntredin the databaselhrouqha guidedinlerview. willbc a6lcto'click'on a Atso. clinicians develoPword and lcam lhc splling_age, mcnlal n|nqe,andsoutccol lhe llcm bv recommendd_ lhe fwhetherit-was darabas. 3 of4 informanls.) or

speiifii targe imalltext') or User

munication aids.Wordsseleclcd for nonspcaking childrcnby parents and clinicians being are to samples compared the language normal of ageand sexmatched peersand nonambulalory speaking peers. addition,she In speaking in hopcsto examine twin-pairs an eflort to controlfor variedlanguage inlluencas inpulandenvironmental acquisition. on vocabulary is Anotherareaof research investigating typeof language the Yorkston gencrqtcd AAC usrs. by ct. al.o'compiledthe languagc adult of sarnples 10nonspeaking period. spellers overan extended Results:1. Sirrg/e wordsare repeated percenloI tlv tinrc, nore tlnn 8G85 phrases also are 2. two-word rcpeated altltouglr less frequently.(2wordphrasesahnostulwaraconlain vetbsand rarelyincludea noun). 3. Three, four, andJivewordphrases arerarelyusedmorelhan once. and Finally,DavidBeukelman8 of othersat the University Nebrason ka haveembarked an ambitious

The projecthopes1odcvclopinfor terfaces variousoutputdcviccs ian_be vocabulary so selscted 6 or printedout asgaphic symbols placedon a videodiscfor training. promiss to Currcnt research selection makethe vocabulary
process mort ellicient and elfective.

Augmentative C,ommunication News

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governmenlal Second, support within the Ontario health provides care/educational system citizens that provinceaccess of to ln services equipment. 1984 and Devices Program the Assistive (ADP) in Ontariowasexpanded that specifically includedevices to to "providca means transmitideas for and facilitatecommunication pcrsons ycarsold andyoungcr) (23 precludeoral whose disabilities lanand/orwritten expressive pay guage." IndividualVfamilies only25Vo the costfor "approved" o[ recommendcd devices by An "authorized clinics." expansion providedby the of adultservices for ADP hasbecnannounced Springof 1989, Third, ACS hasincreased its educational basicresearch and acThis bringsin additional tivities. ACS asa fundsand maintains Ieaderin thc AAC community. Educalionand Trainingot Professlonals ACS olfersworkshops courand scson a resularbasisin Ontario.In papers addition,ACS staffpresent aroundthe world. at conferences in patholStudents speechJangauge ogy,education, and engineering from the Universityof Toronto parprojects. ticipateon ACS research also Clinicalextcrnships are availwho havecomableto students in pletedbasiccoursework AAC at wishingto makesuch universities (e.g.,Dalhousie arrangements Universityin Halifax,NovaScotia). Stipends not available. are Research and Development Research conducted is both within ACS and the MicrocomputerApplicalionsProgramme (MAP). l. MAP Projects MAP is co-directed Morris by Milner, Ph.D.,Director of Rehabilitation Engineering Depart mcnt and PennyParnes, Director of ACS. Staff includes multi-disa ciplinaryteamof 12prolessionals aswell asengineering/computr MAP recently science students. a concluded 3-yearproject lunded bv lBM. Towardsa Uivercal AcDisabled ccss Sysle,tt 2. Think abouthow your state might address following10 tho Any ideas? areasofgreatestneed. Don't keepthe,l to lourse[. this(l SfAIE-NbEDS; lowwould lisrcomparc lo necos In olhercountnes? Anyonca,

& Universitv Reseaich

Augmentative Communication Service (ACS) - CANADA One of the oldestand mostsucAAC programs the Augis cessful menlaliveCommunication Service (ACS) in Toronto,Ontario.It is housed the Hush MacMillan at 'fhe Me<lical Centre(FMMC). ACS hasthreeprimaryfunctions: service dcliveryto children,adults, and thcir families(approximately education to 300yearly);continuing profcssionals, families, and users; and research, article'sfocus. this From 1979's staffof2, to today's equivalent morethan24 full-time of prolessionals from a wide-range of disciplines, prograrnhasgrown this factorshave cxponentially. Several First, contributcdto its success. Penny Parnes, Director ofACS, takcsthe deepest bow.Her vision and openncss, abilityto hirc and supporta talentcdstaff,and advocacy thosewho needAAC lor guidethisprogram. services

{;y*Participantsfrom 25-30states wilh Carol held ad hoc meetings Cohen,consultant the National to lnstituteon Disabilityand Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), at the ISAAC Conferencein Anaheim.California, The goalwaslo disOctober23-26. to cussstateplansfor responding ReP.L. #100-,107, Technologr latedAsslstance Individuals for wilh DisabilitiesAct of 1988. Accordingto Cohen,statcssemto fall alonga continuumfrom "just gettingstarted"to 'vcry sophisticated."However,evcnstatcswith practices in examples "bestn of preparation, clinical,professional dclivery and service technical, arcascould point to unmetneeds. In preparingto applyfor moniesto improvecurrcnt prac-

m
Prepares United Stales Law 100-407 for Public
tices,a lirst stepis for thc Governor ofeach stateto identifya'lead and manage agency'' coordinate to within the stateconactivities cernedwith thislegislation. Remembcr intcnt of the legislathe clinicians, tion is for consumers, politicians, families, manufacturers,agencies, educators, repersons, searchers, technical etc. to work togetheron thc development34[ implemcntation a of techslateplan to provideassistive with disnologies individuals to abilities. What canyou do? 1. I[you are not yet awareof acwithinyourstate, the call tivities sovernor's office.Ask if a "lead Reigcncy hasbeenappointed." qucstto be kept informed.Contact & the "leadagency" offer to help.

knowlcdqc issucs of and l. A broad-based practices wirh rcgardlo alfpopulations. skills. 2. Adlocacyand marketing 3.lnformation network and wai6of buildingbridgcsamong & bctflccn igcncics. and 4. Informalionmanacement public awareness taclics- midia develodmcnl. replication, and cffcctivc5. Mcasurcmenl, plan6. ncssmanagemcnl 6. Wavslo providctrainingand cducation for ofttfessionals familics and public law and policy ?. An undertan-dingof as rl rc|atcslo lunorngrssucs. 8. Waysto involvclhc priwtc sector, cx9. Rthabili(alioncnginccrin&/tcchnical Pefllsc. of 10.Wars lo mccl thc uniqucchallcngcs servicc'dclivcrv. modalsfor dclitc.v to i.c.. follori'irp, rural arca,providitE familics, smd)th lransrtrons tlt,m sanooElo workplacc, and so on.

3. Look for the regulations for p& in P.L. 1fi)-2107 the (conr. 8)

Personswith SpecialNeeds.The Departmentof Rehabilitation Medicine from the Universityof Toronto collaboratedwith ACS on that project.Goalswereto define the principlesof alternate to accss computer-based for technologies physically disabled individuals. Produclsinclude: . Clinical Resource Manual 1ia
p.ess, Univcrsity of Toron to) - For

projectsfocus rion.) Theseongoing on identi$ing physical and cognitive demands placedon individuals usingaugrnentative techniques. InformationProcessins Demands of Messase RetrievalTechnioues (J. Light, P. Lindsay, Parnes). P. Results a pilot projectwere of presented monthat the ISAAC last Conference. Briefly,6 nonspeaking functionally literate,physically disabled adultswerefound to be significantly moreaccurate, after a shortlearning period,in recalling salientletter codes(e.g.,using logicalletter codingtechniques) than they were in recalling letter category codes(.9.,usingFP (food) (pizza) as code for 'I want a pizza")or icggric codes(e.g., Minsymbols"").Norc: srudy This has
obvious clinicalimplicalions; howcvcr, is it premalurto irlerp&t lhc significancc of thc rcsultsoflhc pilot projcct(and risk misinterpretation) until .dditional infomation fmm thc cuarcnt projcct bcconcsa!"ilable.

professionals workingwith physically disabled individuals. This protocolassists clinical teamsto assess access com. to puter-based (contechnologies.
tactACS aboutayailability)

Effect of Voice Outout on Peer Intraction Communicative with Nonspeaking Patterns Children.(A.Kewin,student, Universityof Toronto).Results demonstrat whenvoiceoutput that is not available nonspeaking to children,their rateof initiations decreased peersand increased to to adults.That is,withoutvoice output,childrenreed adultsto assist them in their interactions wilh peers.With voiceoutput,they interactmoreindependenlly. Investieation Socialand Familial of Factorson the Literacv

o Guidelitrcs Development ot for AltemativeAceessMethodsFor rehabilitation engineers and manufaclurers. docuThe mentgivestechnical persons informationaboutthe requirementsof physically disabled persons and the technical requirements electronic of devices, which permit "systemsn to operatein differentenvironmnts. (Alailable now from ACS.)

The currentprojectat MAP, Guidelines the Requirements ol for Conryuler-based Systenrs Accotrrto ntodateDirect Manipulation as a Meansof Altemalive Access,is a cnllaborative effort with the Univcrsity ofToronto. The coordinator this of initiative Fraser is Shein, rehabilia tation engineer HMMC and docat toral studentat the Universityof Toronto.Projectgoalsare to propose and evaluate software and hardware give3 groupsof AAC to users(thosewho usea: singledigit cirhead stick,lrbadcottrolled ligltt beantlsetrsor, single switclr)a way or to usedevices suchasthe mouse, track ball, light pen. 2. ACS Clinical Research Projects and JaniceLlght, Consultant Research Coordinator, oversees all clinicalresearch activities carricd out at ACS. Projects funded are primarilythroughexternal sources
(c.9.,EastcrScalRcsearch Inslitutc,lhe Uni!rsityof Toronto,thc NationalHcalth Rcscarch Devclopment and Prog'am,thc Hospitalfo. SickChildrcnFoundation, thc Ontario Ministryof C-ommunity Social and Srvices, thc OntarioMinistryof Educaand

The currentprojectlooksat 12 physically nonspeaking, disabled clicntsovera 6 monthperiod.Variablesbeingmanipulated include(as before)the encoding tcchnique and the typeofmessage. addition, In the degree whicha codeis perto sonalized, effectof a largercorthe pusof messages recall,and the on shape learning of curves overtime are beingexamincd. Teachins Automatic Linear

Smith).This projectcompares the experiences 2 to 6 yearold of nonspeaking childrento their peerswith regardto able-bodied earlyliteracyskill development. Among the variables being considered parentalpriorities, are: kind of access printed materials, to questions askedchildren,and access augmentative to systems duringbook readingactivities. Retrospective evaluation a of computerfacilitatortraining p19gg (P. Reed,studcnt, Universityof Toronto).This projectexamines effecliveness thc of ACS'sfacilitatortraining pfograms computeruse. lor projectat Anolher research ACS (Toward FurtherDeveloprnenl of a Modular Wheelchair Trayfor PhysicallyDisabled; P. the Severely Parnes S. Nauman, & REC), done in collaboration with the RehabilitaDepartment,will tion Engineering resultin the fabricalionand clinical assessment wheelchair ofa tray that canbe partiallytilted to various positions and be foldcd awaybeside by Clinithe wheelchair a caregiver. cal trialswill beginin January.
For furrher informationaboutACS.w'ilc or caltAuqmcntativc Scrvicc, Communication lluch MacMillanMcdicalCentrc.350 Ru;scv Road.Toronto,Ontario CANADA M4G tR8. (416)425i220. Addr.ss inquires aboulclinic-al lo rasearch Droiects Janiac Liqhr.All orher inouiiis l;taybe dirccledlo Pe-nny Pames.

studyinvestigates cognitive the demands places scanning on preschoolers will suggest and trainingstrategies. results The of thisprojectshouldassist clinicians to helpyoungchildrenmakea transition scanning lo techniqucs.

J.

indicate Toronto.)Results auditory (evcnusinga low cost feedback VotraxPSS) has a synahesizar, positive influence spelling on

Augmentative C-ornmunication News

6
NEWS

(cont.from pg,6) y FederatRegist togetherwith an an' For those of nouncement stategrants. held a kick off meetingduring TechniThe U.S.Chapt"rof ISAAC, USSAAC, planningto pursuethe $500,000 was in ISAAC Conference Anaheim,CA. What enthusiasm the recent look for an ancal Assistance Contract, comrnittee: to Congratulations the newlyelectedexecutive Business generated! in nouncement the Commerce 45 r DavidYoder,President Dailr. Notgl An anlicipated dayturn Eachstateplanaroundtime is expected. o Davld Beukelman,Vice Presidentof OrganizationalAffairs ( & Past working ningto applyshouldbe actively President) infomaon their planNQW. Foradditional ofStateAffairs (& Pres.Elect) . Judlth MontgomeryVice President (202)R2-2197. Crrol tion,catf Crhcn.t o Davld Gordon, Vice Presidentof Financial Affairs e o Delva Culp, Vice Presidentof ProfessionalAffairs Refercncesand Resources o Carol Cohen,Vice Presidentof ConsumerAffairs (Ed.)(1956).IXrADcdcatr C. write I Bamha.r, For is A membership campaign now underway. information, i!I. Ni" Yo'ki Random Ba*ley Memoial Center,Univ, of Nebrask4 Lincoln' NE 6588. ILSSAAC, ffilffj:liqtion
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