Initiations and responses: A comparison of two AAC interventions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a speech generating device with a dynamic display and a picture board on the initiations and responses of children with autism spectrum disorders. An alternating treatment design was used to evaluate the initiations and responses of two preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders in the two treatment conditions. Each child participated in five sessions, an introductory baseline session with no augmentative communication devices and two sessions with a picture board and two sessions with a speech generating device. Findings in this study were mixed. Participant A had used the picture board a total of four times and the SGD a total of three times. Participant B used the picture board a total of twenty times and the SGD a total of forty times. Each participant responded more frequently than he initiated. Even though the results of this study were mixed, each child was able to learn to use both systems within a limited time frame.