Still having his say: David Yoder's legacy in AAC.

On February 2 2023, one of the guiding lights in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for more than four decades, David E. Yoder, passed away at the age of 90. A voracious reader and gifted storyteller, David was particularly fond of a quote from George Bernard Shaw's , "You see things; and you say 'Why?' but I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'" That vision led him to take on multiple leadership roles and influence the field of AAC in multiple ways.

Systematic Review of Variables Related to Instruction in Augmentative and Alternative Communication Implementation: Group and Single-Case Design.

Purpose: This article provides a systematic review and analysis of group and single-case studies addressing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention with school-aged persons having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities resulting in complex communication needs (CCNs). Specifically, we examined participant characteristics in group-design studies reporting AAC intervention outcomes and how these compared to those reported in single-case experimental designs (SCEDs). In addition, we compared the status of intervention features reported in group and SCED studies with respect to instructional strategies utilized.

Participant characteristics predicting communication outcomes in AAC implementation for individuals with ASD and IDD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis examined communication outcomes in single-case design studies of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions and their relationship to participant characteristics. Variables addressed included chronological age, pre-intervention communication mode, productive repertoire, and pre-intervention imitation skills. Investigators identified 114 single-case design studies that implemented AAC interventions with school-aged individuals with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability.

Advances in AAC intervention: some contributions related to applied behavior analysis.

This article extends Dr. Bob Remington's call for collaborations between those supporting behavioral approaches and those supporting more natural developmental approaches to beginning communication intervention. This article expands areas previously discussed by Dr.

Current Trends in Telehealth Applications to Deliver Social Communication Interventions for Young Children with or at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose Of Review: Early, intensive, and high-quality interventions can often improve social communication outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Many children experience barriers to intervention, resulting in significant delays to intervention onset or missed opportunities for intervention altogether. With constant advances in technology, the field is experiencing a rapid increase in investigation of telehealth applications to intervention delivery.

Implementing Aided Augmentative Communication Systems With Persons Having Complex Communicative Needs.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems can support communication skills for people with significant developmental disabilities who experience complex communication needs (CCNs). There is a need to tailor best practices in AAC assessment and intervention to create individualized communication systems with this population. In this article, we outline the important components of AAC systems that can be implemented in authentic settings.

Requests for Communication Repair Produced by Typically Developing Preschool-Age Children.

Purpose When breakdowns in communication occur, children may request a repair to increase understanding of the message. Unrepaired communication breakdowns may cause confusions, limit conversational exchanges, and restrict children's learning opportunities. Relatively little is known regarding the conditions under which children produce repair requests.

The Effect of Partner Reauditorization on Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward a Peer Who Communicates With Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Purpose: This study compared college students' attitudes toward a peer who used a nonelectronic augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system with and without a partner reauditorization strategy and also examined the effect of reauditorization on reported (a) ease of understanding the peer who used AAC, (b) willingness to engage in interactions with the peer who used AAC, and (c) preferences regarding AAC systems.

Method: Sixty-four participants completed surveys after viewing each of 2 counterbalanced conditions involving a video of a peer who communicated using AAC. Mean survey ratings were compared between conditions.

Promoting Conditional Use of Communication Skills for Learners With Complex Communication Needs: A Tutorial.

Purpose: Conditional use of communication skills refers to the ability of a learner to appropriately generalize and discriminate when, where, and how to communicate based on constant variation and shifts in environmental cues.

Method: We describe discrimination and generalization challenges encountered by learners with complex communication needs and ways in which these challenges are fostered through traditional communication intervention programming. We address arrangements in instruction that maximize the probability of learners acquiring the conditional use of new vocabulary and the modest instructional technology implemented when planning for generalization.

Playing the Long Game: Considering the Future of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Research and Service.

This article examines the growth of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in providing support to children and youth with significant communication needs. Addressing current trends and offering a discussion of needs and probable future advances is framed around five guiding principles initially introduced by Williams, Krezman, and McNaughton. These include: (1) communication is a basic right and the use of AAC, especially at a young age, can help individuals realize their communicative potential; (2) AAC, like traditional communication, requires it to be fluid with the ability to adapt to different environments and needs; (3) AAC must be individualized and appropriate for each user; (4) AAC must support full participation in society across all ages and interests; and (5) individuals who use AAC have the right to be involved in all aspects of research, development, and intervention.

Comparing Single Case Design Overlap-Based Effect Size Metrics From Studies Examining Speech Generating Device Interventions.

Meaningfully synthesizing single case experimental data from intervention studies comprised of individuals with low incidence conditions and generating effect size estimates remains challenging. Seven effect size metrics were compared for single case design (SCD) data focused on teaching speech generating device use to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) with moderate to profound levels of impairment. The effect size metrics included percent of data points exceeding the median (PEM), percent of nonoverlapping data (PND), improvement rate difference (IRD), percent of all nonoverlapping data (PAND), Phi, nonoverlap of all pairs (NAP), and Tau(novlap).

Communication Intervention to Teach Requesting Through Aided AAC for Two Learners With Rett Syndrome.

Evidence on effective communication interventions for persons with Rett syndrome is needed to drive the standard of care with this population. This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention package to teach multiple, aided communication requests for two persons with Rett syndrome (ages 27 and 7) through within participant, adapted multiple baseline designs across items/activities. Participants were taught graphic mode requests on speech generating devices, with access methods based on motor ability; one participant responded by pressing a touch screen, and one participant responded by fixed eye-gaze.

A Comparison of High and Low Dosages of a Component of Milieu Teaching Strategies for Two Preschool-Age Learners With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose: The intersection of treatment intensity and communication intervention is an emerging area of investigation. Milieu teaching (MT) approaches for teaching communication skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a substantial evidence base (see Goldstein, 2002). However, a relatively small percentage (37.

Teaching a Child With Autism to Request Breaks While Concurrently Increasing Task Engagement.

Purpose: An intervention package, including teaching break requests and tolerance for delay in reinforcement delivery to increase task engagement, was implemented with a 4-year-old child with an autism spectrum disorder who did not engage for a duration commensurate with individual education program team expectations.

Method: A multiple-probe design across tasks was implemented. Dependent measures taken included engagement duration and the production of spoken break requests after work completion.

Describing treatment intensity in milieu teaching interventions for children with developmental disabilities: a review.

Purpose: This investigation aimed to apply the dosage framework proposed by Warren, Fey, and Yoder (2007) to variations of milieu language teaching intervention strategies to explore how each of the dosage parameters (i.e., dose, dose form, dose frequency, total duration, and cumulative intervention intensity) was reported in the located empirically based applications with learners between birth and 23 years of age.

Communication modality sampling for a toddler with Angelman syndrome.

Purpose: Vocal, gestural, and graphic communication modes were implemented concurrently with a toddler with Angelman syndrome to identify the most efficiently learned communication mode to emphasize in an initial augmentative communication system.

Method: Symbols representing preferred objects were introduced in vocal, gestural, and graphic communication modes using an alternating treatment single-subject experimental design. Conventionally accepted prompting strategies were used to teach symbols in each communication mode.

Single-subject experimental design for evidence-based practice.

Purpose: Single-subject experimental designs (SSEDs) represent an important tool in the development and implementation of evidence-based practice in communication sciences and disorders. The purpose of this article is to review the strategies and tactics of SSEDs and their application in speech-language pathology research.

Method: The authors discuss the requirements of each design, followed by advantages and disadvantages.

Synthesized speech intelligibility and early preschool-age children: comparing accuracy for single-word repetition with repeated exposure.

Purpose: This investigation examined the effect of repeated exposure to novel and repeated spoken words in typical environments on the intelligibility of 2 synthesized voices and human recorded speech in preschools.

Method: Eighteen preschoolers listened to and repeated single words presented in human-recorded speech, DECtalk Paul, and AT&T Voice Michael during 5 experimental sessions. Stimuli consisted of repeated and novel words presented in each speech output condition during each session.

Group-item and directed scanning: examining preschoolers' accuracy and efficiency in two augmentative communication symbol selection methods.

Purpose: The current investigation compared directed scanning and group-item scanning among typically developing 4-year-old children. Of specific interest were their accuracy, selection speed, and efficiency of cursor movement in selecting colored line drawn symbols representing object vocabulary.

Method: Twelve 4-year-olds made selections in both directed and group-item scanning conditions using a 36-symbol array that required matching line drawn symbols to pictures.

Examining dynamic visual scene displays: implications for arranging and teaching symbol selection.

Purpose: Evidence supports using visual scene displays (VSDs) with young children using speech-generating devices. This study examined initial and subsequent performance during VSD use by children age 24-27 and 33-36 months to explore child characteristics that may relate to navigational skill differences.

Method: Children located 9 vocabulary items using a dynamic VSD.

Synthesized speech output and children: a scoping review.

Purpose: Many computer-based augmentative and alternative communication systems in use by children have speech output. This article (a) provides a scoping review of the literature addressing the intelligibility and listener comprehension of synthesized speech output with children and (b) discusses future research directions.

Method: Studies investigating synthesized speech intelligibility and/or comprehension with children as listeners were systematically identified and coded according to their objectives and methodology.

Task engagement and escape maintained challenging behavior: differential effects of general and explicit cues when implementing a signaled delay in the delivery of reinforcement.

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of explicit and general delay cues when implementing a tolerance for a delay in the delivery of a reinforcement procedure to increase task engagement and decrease escape maintained challenging behavior. Two preschool children with autism participated in an alternating treatments design with changing criterions for task engagement. For both children, descriptive and experimental analyses verified that the challenging behavior functioned to escape instructional task demands.

Teaching a young child with autism to request assistance conditionally: a preliminary study.

Purpose: Investigators taught a 5-year-old boy with autistic disorder and severe language delay to conditionally use requests for assistance.

Method: A within-participant multiple-probe design across 3 functional tasks was implemented in order to evaluate the child's acquisition and conditional use of requests for assistance during intervention with each task.

Results: Results indicated initial acquisition of requests for assistance followed by a brief period of overgeneralization.

Comparison of accuracy and efficiency of directed scanning and group-item scanning for augmentative communication selection techniques with typically developing preschoolers.

Purpose: Directed scanning and group-item scanning both represent options for increased scanning efficiency. This investigation compared accuracy and speed of selection with preschoolers using each scanning method. The study's purpose was to describe performance characteristics of typically developing children and to provide a reliable assessment protocol to evaluate scanning skills.