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December 1995 |
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December 1995 |
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The greatest near future impact on the lives of people who rely on AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) assistive technology will not come from changes in the technology itself but rather from changes in the clinical practice that relates to the selection and application of AAC systems. AAC decisions frequently are being made by people with limited experience and little understanding of the implications of the various alternatives. Many people making the decisions have never even actually talked with people who use various AAC systems As a result, for example, many still think that higher technology leads to better communication and they have invalid perceptions of which systems offer the most effective communication for particular population groups.
Most AAC professionals acknowledge that semantic compaction (Minspeak) is the most powerful method of language representation for most people who rely on AAC. However, many also note that a therapy program is needed for learning the system. PRC has been developing and now offers products to facilitate this.
One welcome trend is the increasing interest in outcomes. Present initiatives to develop outcome measurement tools should yield results in the near term. Shortly thereafter we should be in a position to gather objective information on the actual communication performance of people using the various paradigms and systems. This information will guide future clinical practice as well as AAC system development.
Caption:
Barry Romich is CEO of the Prentke Romich Company, a long standing manufacturer of augmentative communication equipment, including the AlphaTalker, Liberator, and new DeltaTalker.
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