Analysis of narratives produced by four children who use augmentative and alternative communication

The ability to narrate a story is fundamental to the development of overall communicative competence and involves the coordination of a variety of knowledge structures and linguistic abilities. In this study, the narrative discourse abilities of four children who use AAC are described in the context of five tasks designed to elicit a spectrum of narrative skills. Assessment was achieved through application of the Narrative Assessment Profile tool [Bliss, L. S., McCabe, A., & Miranda A. E. (1998). Narrative assessment profile: Discourse analysis for school-age children. Journal of Communication Disorders, 31, 347-362.] and analysis of seven major story elements. Our results indicate that most narrative discourse dimensions in our participating children appeared to be compromised and in need of intervention. Discussion includes aspects of narrative intervention and suggested topics for further research.

The reader will be able to: (1) create a list of issues involved in the development of narrative abilities of children who depend on augmentative and alternative communication systems (AAC) and (2) describe the issues involved in assessing the narrative skills of children who use AAC.