Conclusion

1
Criterion-Based AAC Assessment for Persons with
Developmental and Acquired Impairments
Rajinder Koul, Ph.D., Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center Ravi Nigam, Ph.D.,
Governors State University
Abstract A criterion-based AAC assessment will be
demonstrated using ten case examples of persons
with severe speech, language and/or writing
impairments. Each case example will demonstrate
predictive profiling in which capabilities of a
potential AAC user are evaluated on a number of
tasks. Based on the results obtained on those
criterion tasks, the AAC team predicts the
possible successful use of AAC techniques,
strategies, and devices.

• Participant 3
• Background Information
• 20 year-old female
• C-2 spinal cord injury and tracheostomy in 2000
• Uses a wheelchair and is ventilator dependent
• Currently enrolled in college
• Communication Skills
• Difficulty accessing computers and telephones
• Expressive Language
• Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric
  Speech (AIDS)
• Speech intelligibility at the sentence level 97
• AAC Assessment
• Dragon Dictate speech recognition software
• 15-20 minute training/evaluation session
• Speech was recognized by computer with 58
  accuracy for single words (e.g.,
  he, she, it, mom)
• Recommendations
• Dragon V7.0 Complete Up and Ready-to-Run System
• Alphabet and word prediction software to reduce
  number of keystrokes when typing
• Laptop computer with Dragon software

• Participant 6
• Background Information
• 17 year-old female diagnosed with Autism
• Substantial expressive and receptive speech and
  language deficits
• Communicated using speech, gestures, and
  pointing
• Communication Skills
• Expressive and Receptive language
• Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-3
  (CELF-3)
• Developmental age level of 3 years
• Receptive one-word vocabulary
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 3rd Edition
  (PPVT-III)
• Developmental age level of 3 years, 5 months
• Speech Intelligibility
• 100 word speech sample was obtained
• Speech was 30-35 intelligible
• AAC Symbol Assessment
• Clinician modeled how to access and select
  symbols
• Participant 6 was able to select concrete
  symbols, alphabets, and numbers with relative
  ease and high accuracy
• Combined symbols from various grammatical
  categories to form sentences

• Participant 9
• Background Information
• 38-year old male
• Automobile accident resulting in massive head
  trauma
• Speech reported to be soft and unclear
• Communication Status
• Communicates basic wants and needs verbally
• Receptive Language
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)
• Revealed a developmental age level between 9
  years, 3 months and 10 years, 6 months
• Expressive and receptive language
• Communication Activities of Daily Living (CADL)
• Communicated basic wants and needs
• Complex sentences and questions were difficult
  to interpret and answer
• Speech
• Intelligibility during conversation 68
• Intelligibility with vocal amplification
  device 88
• AAC Symbol Assessment
• Computer-based electronic communication device
  was used

• AAC Ax Examples
• Participant 1
• Background Information
• 5 year-old female with cerebral palsy and
  severe dysarthria
• Severe expressive language delay
• Uses wheelchair most of the time
• Criteria
• Communicates through gestures, limited manual
  signs, facial expressions and
  limited one word utterances
  (e.g., ball, mom, dad)
• Intelligence Quotient
• Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (TONI-3)
• Revealed a developmental age level of 6 years,
  3 months
• Receptive Language
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 3rd Edition
  (PPVT-III)
• Revealed an age equivalency of 6 years, 2
  months
• Expressive Language
• Preschool Language Scale, 4th Edition (PLS-4)
• Expressive language delay age equivalency of 1
  year, 1 month
• AAC Symbol Assessment
• Speech Generating Device

Conclusion These ten clinical case examples
suggest that predictive profiling or feature
matching (Glennen, 1997) is an important
assessment approach that clinicians can use
successfully to predict whether a potential AAC
user can successfully use specific AAC
techniques, strategies, and devices.
Selected References Beukelman, D.R., Mirenda,
P. (2005). Augmentative and alternative
communication Supporting children and adults
with complex communication needs. (3rd-ed.)
Baltimore Paul H. Brookes. Glennen, S. (1997).
Augmentative and alternative communicative
assessment strategies. In S. L. Glennen D.
DeCoste (Eds.), The handbook of augmentative and
alternative communication (pp 149-192). San
Diego Singular Publishing Group.
2
(No Transcript)