Multicultural considerations in augmentative and alternative communication.

Little is known about how well high-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems accommodate language variation to meet the needs of people and families who are culturally and linguistically diverse. The purpose of this study was to investigate how high-tech AAC device manufacturers consider language variation and multilingualism in device design and language files, whether there is a difference in the modifications available on default language files on a dedicated AAC device as compared to communication applications on tablets, and the availability of these modifications. A coding schema was developed to assess features available that enabled user modification of default language files across four language domains: semantics, morphosyntax, phonology, and pragmatics.

Book-Reading Engagement in Children with Autism and Language Impairment: Associations with Emergent-Literacy Skills.

Emergent-literacy skills are frequently taught within social interactions in preschool classrooms such as shared book reading. Children with impaired language and/or social engagement may have difficulty accessing these learning opportunities. Therefore, we sought to investigate the relationship between book-reading orientation during a teacher-led shared book reading activity and emergent-literacy skill development across three groups of preschool children; autism (n = 22), developmental language disorder (DLD; n = 23), and typical development (TD; n = 58).