Augmentative and Alternative Communication - Research Proposal Example

Introduction In the recent times, here has been extensive and wide ranging concern for issues relating to disability. The prognosis and the use of technology in the field has made tremendous advancement and the amendments in the constitutions, making special provisions to include all round welfare programs for the people with disabilities has facilitated equal participation in the socio-economic development of the country. Though the huge efforts made by the countries to facilitate and promote the participation of the people with disabilities has made significant mark, a lot of research needs to be done in the field of developmental disabilities which have multifaceted and multilateral aspects that are not only complex by nature but they also need socio-psychological interventions, stretched over a period of time, involving extensive inter-personal communication. Of the various developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy is significantly different and encompasses a wide set of communication problem. Cerebral palsy is a disability where despite having a relatively high intelligence quotient, the person has almost no control over his locomotor parts including his speech, thus making communication extremely difficult. Though it affects muscle movements and synchronized coordination of body parts, it is not actually a muscular or neurological problem but abnormality in part of the brain that controls body coordination. It is, therefore, very important to address the need for an augmentative and alternative communication for the persons suffering from cerebral palsy. Rationale for conducting my study While there have been many studies that focused on improving linguistic, technical, and strategic competence, there is a scarcity of research on socio-relational competence. In order to enhance the participation of the persons affected with cerebral palsy in the development of the community, it is imperative that their socio-relational competencies be developed to the extent that they may start contributing to the socio-economic development of the society. Research questions or hypotheses The role of AAC is vital in the development of socio-relational competency in the persons affected with cerebral palsy. Literature Review Prior research indicated that providing access to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to communicate would not guarantee the development of communicative competence in disabled individuals. According to Light “for AAC users to reach communicative competence, four critical skills must be mastered namely linguistic competence; technical competence; socio-relational competence and strategic competence” (Light, Binger, Agate, & Ramsay, 1999). Lloyd says that “AAC intervention may reduce the pressure on the individual for speech production, thereby reducing stress and indirectly facilitating speech” (Lloyd & Kangas, 1994). According to Mirenda (2003) “the behavioral theory of automatic reinforcement may provide another potential explanation of the facilitative effects of AAC intervention on speech development”. According to this theory, if AAC (e.g., the manual sign or graphic symbol for cookie) is presented along with the spoken word (as is typically the case in AAC intervention), and these are followed by a reinforcer (e.g., a chocolate chip cookie), both the AAC mode and speech production should increase in frequency. There is an urgent need for a systematic review of the current research on AAC intervention and natural speech production to guide evidence-based decision making in initiating AAC (Schlosser & Raghavendra, 2004). Methodology The research study would comprise of experimental design, targeting young adults with cerebral palsy ranging from 21-30 of age. This study focused on improving the socio-relational skills of disabled individuals by teaching them partner-focused questions. This new treatment method was an oral instructional program that taught conversational scripts to AAC users that could be applied to any social situation. Four adults, ranging from 21-30 years of age, having cerebral palsy (CP) and who were AAC users, were chosen to participate in a two-month study. In addition, the participants’ natural speech was too unintelligible to meet their daily communication needs. The coding categories were based, in part, on the categories used by Schlosser and Lee (2000) in their meta-analysis of treatment effectiveness of AAC interventions (Lee). In this study, Phase A was defined as baseline before the instructions of the conversational scripts. The participants’ behavior was measured for two weeks without intervention. The study moved from Phase A to Phase B once stability was established for the target behavior in baseline. Phase B was the treatment method of teaching the participants the conversational scripts. Phase B was initiated individually with the 1st and 2nd participants while the 3rd and 4th participants remained in Phase A. Once the treatment method proved effective with the 1st participant, then the 3rd and 4th participants began to receive treatment. This classification system provided a systematic method for documenting the level of certainty of evidence when valuating the impact of interventions and allowed us to determine which studies provided the best evidence (Simeonsson & Bailey, 1991). Dependent measures In order to control against extraneous variables, the participants chosen for the study all shared the same socioeconomic, cultural, and educational backgrounds. These extraneous variables were controlled to ensure that none of the participants had an unfair learning advantage because of socio-economic, cultural, and educational differences. The participants chosen also used the same AAC systems created by DynaVox Inc. to ensure that there was no variability among participants’ technical skills. Also, the researchers chose instructors with similar teaching styles and years of experience in working with AAC users to avoid variability in teaching methods. Analysis The treatment method proved successful among the participants. The participants were contacted on a monthly basis for six months after the study concluded. All the participants agreed that the instruction they received helped them improve their socio-relational skills. Friends and family members of the participants were also interviewed and agreed that the use of conversational scripts enhanced the socio-relational skills of the participants. To further validate the outcomes of this study, a group of 30 adults unrelated to the participants and unfamiliar with AAC were asked to judge their socio-relational skills by watching videotaped samples of the participants’ engaged in conversation. These videotaped samples were taped months after the study reached its conclusion. The majority of the adults judged the participants to have good socio-relational skills. Reference Light, J. (2003). ‘‘Shattering the silence’’: The development of communicative competence by individuals who use AAC. In J. Light, D. Beukelman, & J. Reichle (Eds.), Communicative competence for individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication: From research to effective practice (pp. 3–38). Baltimore: Brookes. Light, J., Binger, C., Agate, T., & Ramsay, K. (1999). Teaching partner-focused questions to individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication to enhance their communicative competence. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 42, 241–255. Lloyd, L. L., & Kangas, K. (1994). Augmentative and alternative communication. In G. H. Shames, E. H. Wiig, & W. A. Secord (Eds.), Human communication disorders (4th ed., pp. 606–657). New York: Merrill/Macmillan. Mirenda, P. (2003). Toward functional augmentative and alternative communication for students with autism: Manual signs, graphic symbols, and voice output communication aids. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 34, 203–216. Schlosser, R. W., & Raghavendra, P. (2004). Evidencebased practice in augmentative and alternative communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 20, 1–21. Schlosser, R. W., & Lee, D. L. (2000). Promoting generalization and maintenance in augmentative and alternative communication: A meta-analysis of 20 years of effectiveness research. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 16, 208–226. Simeonsson, R., & Bailey, D. (1991). Evaluating programme impact: Levels of certainty. In D. Mitchell & R. Brown (Eds.), Early intervention studies for young children with special needs (pp. 280–296). London: Chapman and Hall. Read More