The AAC Learning Center has moved to AAC-Learning-Center.org

AAC for aphasia: Visual Scene Displays

by

  • David R. Beukelman, Ph.D.,
  • Karen Hux, Ph.D.,
  • Kristy Weissling, MA, CCC,
  • Aimee Dietz, MS, CCC,
  • Miechelle McKelvey, MA, CCC

Webcast Description
This presentation will review the research and development activities associated with the Visual Scenes Display (VSD) Project at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln .
Specifically:

  • The VSD interface will be demonstrated
  • The strategies for capturing and entering content for individuals with aphasia who rely on AAC will be discussed
  • Examples of VSD setups for specific individuals will be presented
  • Intervention outcomes will be reported.
  • Support Activities and Materials

 Additional Resources

Augmentative Communication News: Visual Scene Displays (August 2004)
This issue provides information on the use of Visual Scene Displays with beginning communicators and individuals with significant cognitive and/or linguistic limitations (pdf)

Visual Scene Displays (University of Nebraska)
University of Nebraska site for downloading Visual Scene Templates (link)

AAC for persons with primary progressive aphasia

by



Melanie Fried-Oken, Ph.D.,
Oregon Health and Science University

Webcast Description

Melanie Fried-Oken describes her research on AAC intervention for people with primary progressive aphasia.

Key findings include that people with primary progressive aphasia

  • are more successful in communication when they use AAC
  • can use AAC both with family members as well as clinical researchers
  • can make use not only of low tech communication boards, but also natural AAC supports (photo albums, newspapers, maps) available in their daily environments.

This webcast include both data and video from the research study, as well as videos by individuals with primary progressive aphasia (and their family members) discussing their experiences with primary progressive aphasia, and the positive impact of AAC. The webcast provides evidence, from a controlled experiment, that AAC is an important and valid intervention for people with progressive aphasia in clinical and natural settings. 

Additional Resources

• Bourgeois, M. , Fried-Oken, M. & Rowland, C. (2010, March 16). AAC Strategies and Tools for Persons With Dementia. The ASHA Leader. (full text)

• Beukelman, D.R., Garrett, K. L., & Yorkston, K. (2007). Augmentative Communication Strategies for Adults with Acute or Chronic Medical Conditions. Brookes Publishing, Baltimore, MD.(Ordering Information)

Supporting Conversation

  • Guidelines for communicating with persons with language difficulties (full text)
  • Helpful hints for conversation (full text)

This webcast was produced as part of the work of the AAC-RERC under grant #H133E080011 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

How Far We’ve Come, How Far We’ve Got to Go: Tales from the Trenches

by

 

Webcast Description

Michael B. Williams (MA), a long time practitioner of the art of augmented communication, uses historical biography to elucidate many of the key social and technological issues in AAC today.

Additional Resources

  • Williams M. B. Confessions of a multi-modal man. Alternatively Speaking 2004; 7(1)6
  • Saying it your way – In this special issue of Alternatively Speaking, Martin Pistorius,  Joe Hemphill,  and Michael Williams describe strategies for successful communication.

This webcast was produced as part of the work of the AAC-RERC under grant #H133E080011 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

Adaptive Access: Key Design Considerations

by


Dr. Susan Fager (University of Nebraska at Lincoln) and Dr. Adaptive Access: Key Design ConsiderationsJeff Higginbotham (State University of New York at Buffalo) present on Key Design Considerations for People with Communication, Motor, and Cognitive Challenges at the AAC-RERC State of the Science Conference in Baltimore Maryland, June 28, 2012.

This webcast was produced as part of the work of the AAC-RERC under grant #H133E080011 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

Language and learning: Cognitive science considerations in the design of AAC technologies for children and adults

by

Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken (Oregon Health & Science University) and Dr. Janice Light (Penn State University) present on cognitive science considerations in the design of AAC technologies for children and adults. Presented on June 28, 2012, at the AAC-RERC State of the Science conference in Baltimore, MD.

The contents of this website are a joint offering of Penn State University and the RERC on AAC. They were developed, in part, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90REGE0014) to the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (RERC on AAC). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.