title: Early evidence of low-tech communication in an Otto Dix painting of 1920.
abstract: This paper presents and analyzes a finding that gives evidence of the use of a low-tech communication device long before the formal establishment of the field of augmentative and alternative communication. The device, a simple low-tech alphabet board, is portrayed in a 1920 painting of World War I veterans by German Expressionist Otto Dix. Entitled "War Cripples," the painting shows one of the veterans, who sustained severe disfigurement and jaw mutilation resulting in speech loss, pointing to a letter on a chart pinned to his uniform. The analysis of the painting utilized Aby Warburg's methodology for researching the significance of images within the cultural context in which they are produced.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual de Campinas - Unicamp, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. lureily@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reily
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Panhan
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tupinambá
mesh_terms: D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities / Q000266:history*; D005197:Famous Persons; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010151:Paintings / Q000266:history*; D014728:Veterans / Q000266:history; D047828:World War I