title: The effects of aided AAC interventions on AAC use, speech, and symbolic gestures.
abstract: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) service provision can be time-consuming, and it is important to ensure that the time invested in aided AAC interventions is worth the costs. As children who use AAC are multimodal communicators, it is important to understand the effects that aided AAC interventions may have not only on AAC use but also on other communication modes, including speech and symbolic gestures. Toward these ends, this article contains a review of commonly used AAC intervention techniques, a discussion of how use of these techniques affects aided AAC use, and an examination of the effect that AAC interventions have on other communication modes, including speech and various types of gestures. Overall, current research findings indicate that aided AAC interventions can be highly effective for teaching students who use AAC to become more effective communicators and that such interventions do not have a negative effect on speech-and may, in some cases, have a positive effect on speech.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA. cbinger@unm.edu
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Binger
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berens
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kent-Walsh
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003145:Communication Methods, Total; D005868:Gestures; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011932:Reading; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013561:Symbolism; D014705:Verbal Behavior