Impact of Alternative & Augmentative Communication on the Utterance Length of Children with Limited Oral Language

Abstract

Children with limited oral language due to developmental and language delays have difficulty with communication in their everyday lives. Their trouble with speech and/or language impacts their ability to socialize with peers and learn in the school setting. Most of the research on alternative and augmentative communication systems and oral language has focused on the language development of children with less than 20 spoken words. The focus of this study is on the use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication Systems to increase oral language for children with limited oral language. Limited oral language is defined as being able to speak more than 20 words and an MLU of 2 or less. These alternative systems aid in expression and comprehension of language through visual and auditory means. Three boys age three to six were enrolled in the study lasting three months per child in an overlapping timeframe. Using a multiple baseline design during a shared book reading experience, the participants were given access to an AAC system. During the first baseline, books were shared with the participants, but only expectant pauses were used. The second baseline condition was the same as the first, except the AAC system was present. Finally, during the intervention phase, this system was modeled and expectant pauses were used. All participants demonstrated an increase in oral language as measured by mean length of utterances. However, since two of the children had high incidences of echolalia, it is difficult to ascertain if this increase was due to imitation or increased spontaneous oral language.