The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Electronic communication aids and tablet devices are being used to support communication for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Current trends and research for these strategies will be discussed and a new, evidence-based approach, SPEAKall! This application has an intuitive, “sensory-friendly” interface that reduces cognitive load, and facilitates natural speech development. This session will focus on interventions in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). One of the core ASD symptoms includes a “delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language”. Approximately 25-50% of children with ASD are functionally non-verbal and will not develop sufficient natural speech or writing without ongoing and systematic AAC intervention. AAC augments or replaces spoken language through alternative means of communication. The first part of this session will briefly review evidence-based AAC strategies to facilitate functional communication skills, enhance natural speech production and increase social-communicative behaviors. Strategies include unaided approaches such as manual signs and gestures, and aided approaches such as graphic symbols, exchanged-based communication, electronic communication aides, and tablet devices. Particular emphasis will be on the application of iPads and AAC apps. The presenters will identify features of evidence-based apps that are most suitable for autism intervention and showcase how to infuse these into behavioral instruction. Participants will then be introduced to a new, evidence-based iPad app, SPEAKall! This application has been specifically designed for communication intervention in prelinguistic learners. It has a very intuitive and “sensory-friendly” interface that reduces cognitive load, which makes it ideal for individuals with severe, non-verbal autism or severe developmental speech and language delay. Intervention with SPEAKall! not only provides the learner with a voice, but also facilitates natural speech and language development without the device.

The final focus will be on using parents as interventionists. This can have several benefits for families affected by autism: AAC interventions provided by professionals are typically quite expensive and there is a lack of qualified personnel. If parents can be trained to conduct at least early AAC intervention phases and/or continue intervention sessions at home, children may obtain more consistent benefits from AAC without extra costs. Because iPads and apps are affordable, a parent-implemented training program can be a very cost-efficient, yet effective intervention option. In our SPEAK all! project, parent-training consisted of (a) modeling by an experienced clinician followed by role-playing, (b) composing of video resources for parent review, (c) written instructions (“cheat sheets”), and (d) review of video-taped sessions with feedback.

Results suggest that parents can implement an iPad-based AAC intervention with sufficient fidelity.  These findings underscore the potential of including parents for maximizing benefits of AAC intervention in autism. Practitioners should recognize the value of joint parent-professional partnerships, and develop expertise for parent training.

Data and video-cases from recent single-subject experiments will illustrate successful SPEAKall! interventions and their implementation into daily activities around the family home and classroom.

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to:

• Outline the pros and cons of using tablet devices for AAC intervention, distinguish well-designed from poorly-designed AAC apps, and identify app features that are important to facilitate sensory-processing and prevent cognitive overload
• Define the potential benefits of AAC intervention on development of natural speech
• Describe how to engage in a parent-implemented iPad intervention.

Learning Objectives: