Conversation-based intervention for adolescents using augmentative and alternative communication

This study evaluated the effects of a conversation-based intervention on the use of verbs, personal pronouns, bound morphemes and spontaneous clauses in adolescents with cerebral palsy who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Four teenage girls aged from 14 to 18 years participated in the study. After a baseline period, a conversation-based intervention was provided for each participant in the context of a personal collage-building activity. The conversations were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT™) . While the results are mixed, all four participants increased their use of at least one linguistic target, three increased their use of verbs and grammatically correct spontaneous clauses, two increased their use of personal pronouns, and one produced more bound morphemes during intervention than in baseline. These findings, and future research needs, are discussed.