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AAC for persons with primary progressive aphasia

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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)

Improving literacy outcomes for individuals with ASD

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Janice Light & David McNaughton

This free webcast provides information on effective instructional procedures to teach literacy skills to individuals with ASD and limited speech.

The webcast includes both detailed instructional procedures, as well as case examples (including videoclips) of  reading and writing instruction with children and adolescents with ASD.The webcast provides information on how to teach key literacy skills, including

  • phonological awareness skills,
  • letter-sound correspondences,
  • decoding skills,
  • shared reading skills
  • sight word recognition skills,
  • reading and understanding books,
  •  early writing skills

The instructional procedures are based on the recommendations of the National Reading Panel (2000), with adaptations to support the participation of individuals with ASD who have limited speech. These evidence-based procedures were developed as part of a federally funded research grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), as part of the AAC-RERC, under grant #H133E030018; and the Augmentative Communication Fund, supported by the Forklifts Annual Golf Tournament/Joe Strada Sr. Memorial Fund. Development of this wecast was supported by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services under grant #H325K080333.

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

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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)

Seating and positioning for people who use AAC

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Dr. Aileen Costigan

Webcast Description
Appropriate seating and positioning is critical for use of assistive technology (AT) and participation in a variety of environments. Dr. Aileen Costigan, a certified Occupational Therapist, provides an introduction to important issues in seating and positioning for individuals who use AT.

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)

Mobile devices and communication apps: Current trends and future directions

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Webcast Description

Drs. Howard Shane, Jessica Gosnell, David McNaughton, and Sam Sennot discuss the use of mobile communication technologies (e.g., the iPad) by children with complex communication needs. The discussion includes: Benefits of Mobile Communication Technology (1:00); the Assessment Process (4:00); Learning about New Apps (12:20); Intervention (15:25); Building Vocabulary and Language Skills (21:20); What’s Next? (25:20); Additional Resources (29:50)

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.