Augmentative and alternative communication: scope and peculiarities of terms and concepts in Brazil.
BACKGROUND
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is expanding in our country, however it is still not a widely recognized practice. Although the term 'Augmentative and Alternative Communication' is well defined in the international literature, in our country there is no official and/or accepted version.


OBJECTIVE
To review the terms used in Brazil and to discuss their implications, taking as a reference the policies and recommendations of Isaac--International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication.


METHODS
A review of national Journals was made, consulting Lilacs and SciELO database, until the year of 2007.


RESULTS
The following versions were found: Comunicação Alternativa e Suplementar, Comunicação Alternativa, Comunicação Suplementar e/ou Alternativa, Sistemas Alternativos e Facilitadores de Comunicação, Comunicação Suplementar, Comunicação Alternativa e Ampliada.


CONCLUSIONS
It is important for a given version/term, besides being adopted by its own use, to maintain the original intended sense and to be in consonance with recommendations/policies of the field it belongs, such as those proposed by Isaac. This is a relevant discussion for the consolidation and strengthening of AAC in Brazil and also for the establishment of descriptors in the field of Health Sciences.
Chun
Regina Yu Shon
RY
Programa de Mestrado Profissional Saúde, FCM, Unicamp. reginayu@fcm.unicamp.br
D035843:Biomedical Research; D001938:Brazil; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012107:Research Design; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000145:classification*; D009626:Terminology as Topic