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Using Talking Mats to support communication in persons with Huntington's disease
Ulrika Ferm1, Anna Sahlin, Linda Sundin
1DART—Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Assistive Technology, Regional Rehabilitation Centre, Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. ulrika.ferm@vgregion.se
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders
|September 30, 2010
Summary
Talking Mats, a visual communication tool, improved communication effectiveness for individuals with Huntington's disease. This augmentative communication framework offers a valuable resource for enhancing interaction and decision-making in later stages of the disease.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Communication Sciences
- Assistive Technology
Background:
- Huntington's disease often impairs cognition, language, and communication.
- Talking Mats is a low-tech, visual augmentative communication system.
- It supports individuals with cognitive and communicative disabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the efficacy of Talking Mats for individuals in advanced stages of Huntington's disease.
- To evaluate its potential as a communication aid.
Main Methods:
- A study involving five participants with Huntington's disease.
- Comparison of three communication conditions: unstructured, verbally structured, and Talking Mats.
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of videotaped conversations.
Main Results:
- Talking Mats significantly enhanced communicative effectiveness across all participants.
- Verbally structured communication showed higher effectiveness than unstructured communication.
- Communication effectiveness varied based on conversational topic.
Conclusions:
- Talking Mats shows promise as a valuable communication resource for people with Huntington's disease.
- Potential applications include social interaction, opinion gathering, and decision-making.
- Further research is needed to generalize findings and understand underlying mechanisms.
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