Teaching students with developmental disabilities to locate their AAC device

Area of Science:

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Developmental Disabilities
• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background:

• Nonverbal students with autism often use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices like voice output communication aids (VOCAs).
• A key challenge is ensuring device accessibility for consistent communication.
• Students may not independently locate their VOCA when it is out of reach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To teach three nonverbal students with autism to locate their VOCA.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a least-to-most prompting procedure for teaching VOCA location skills.
• To determine if teaching VOCA location is a necessary component of AAC interventions.

Main Methods:

• A least-to-most prompting procedure was used to train students to find their VOCA.
• The intervention's effectiveness was assessed using a delayed multiple-baseline across subjects design.
• Three nonverbal students with autism participated in the study.

Main Results:

• The prompting procedure was effective in teaching students to locate their AAC devices.
• Students learned to find their VOCA when needed to request preferred items.
• The intervention demonstrated success in improving device accessibility.

Conclusions:

• Teaching voice output communication aid (VOCA) location skills is effective for nonverbal students with autism.
• This skill is a potentially crucial component of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions.
• Improved device accessibility can enhance communication for individuals with developmental disabilities.