Influence of computerized sounding out on spelling performance for children who do and do not rely on AAC.

Purpose: Spelling is an important skill for individuals who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The purpose of this study was to investigate how computerized sounding out influenced spelling accuracy of pseudo-words. Computerized sounding out was defined as a word elongated, thus providing an opportunity for a child to hear all the sounds in the word at a slower rate.

Methods: Seven children with cerebral palsy, four who use AAC and three who do not, participated in a single subject AB design.

Results: The results of the study indicated that the use of computerized sounding out increased the phonologic accuracy of the pseudo-words produced by participants.

Conclusion: The study provides preliminary evidence for the use of computerized sounding out during spelling tasks for children with cerebral palsy who do and do not use AAC. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Implications For Rehabilitation: We investigated how computerized sounding out influenced spelling accuracy of pseudowords for children with complex communication needs who did and did not use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Results indicated that the use of computerized sounding out increased the phonologic accuracy of the pseudo-words by participants, suggesting that computerized sounding out might assist in more accurate spelling for children who use AAC. Future research is needed to determine how language and reading abilities influence the use of computerized sounding out with children who have a range of speech intelligibility abilities and do and do not use AAC.