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Introducing the TAT4AAC (Thinking About Thinking for AAC)
MFO
12/20/2019 10:00 PM
We are all challenged by cognitive demands placed on us by everyday technology. My latest challenges have been in the grocery store and with my smartphone. When I go to pay for groceries with a credit card, each store has different procedures. I’m either asked to swipe my card or to place the card in a chip reader. Some stores want me to sign with my finger, or sign with a stylus or just don’t sign. Each machine is slightly different and requires me to attend to the features of the technology. Same with my new smartphone. It took me ages to learn how to correctly use the HOME button. Now I don’t have a HOME button anymore. I must learn how to use swipe as my latest feature. I’m forever a learner of each new technology and the new demands that are placed on me for effective use.
The cognitive demands of technologies are present in each AAC device, as well. Consider for a moment the child who is learning to use an eye gaze system. She must remember her intended selection while moving her eyes to the correct area of the screen or switching screens to find the intended word. And if she’s using symbols, she must match the symbol with the intended word. The attention, memory and executive function demands placed on the youngster for just providing a one-word response are huge in this situation. We must examine what cognitive demands are placed on the user by AAC technology, and we must factor those cognitive demands into device design, device prescriptions, treatment and implementation.
In 2014, the REKNEW lab at Oregon Health & Science University, a partner of the NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (RERC on AAC), took on the challenge of developing a website that would help AAC providers, designers, and consumers consider these cognitive demands. We called the website TAT4AAC: Thinking about Thinking for AAC. (website: tat4aac.ohsu.edu)
The TAT4AAC website went live on Tuesday, November 12. We started sending out links to our colleagues, listservs, websites, and any interested parties we could think of. The Matrix CoP team asked us to share it with you here. We are delighted. In our next post, we will describe the evidence-based process that we used to develop the tool. And in our final post, we will propose different uses of the interactive tool. We hope you find this new resource as innovative, useful and important as we do: tat4aac.ohsu.edu
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Statement A
My child doesn't seem to have real control over his body yet.
The only way I know that he wants something is because he fusses or whines when he's unhappy or uncomfortable, and he smiles, makes noises or calms down when he's happy and comfortable. Does this statement describe your child?
Statement B
My child has control over her own behaviors, but she doesn't use them to try to communicate to me.
She doesn't come to me to let me know what she wants, but it's easy for me to figure out, because she tries to do things for herself. She knows what she wants, and her behavior shows me what she wants. If she runs out of something to eat, she will just try to get more, rather than trying to get me to give her more.
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Statement C
My child clearly tries to communicate his needs to me through gestures, sounds or language.
He knows how to get me to do something for him. He uses some of the kinds of behaviors below to communicate:
- Gestures such as pointing, shaking his head, tugging at my arm or looking back and forth between me and what he wants
- Sounds such as squealing to show you he wants something or fussing when he doesn't want something
- Language or symbolic forms of communication such as speech, written words, Braille, picture symbols, 3-dimensional symbols or sign language
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Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging
Mastered
– Does this independently most of the time when the opportunity arises
– Does this in a number of di erent contexts, and with di erent people
Emerging
– Does this inconsistently
–
Only does this when prompted or encouraged to do so. Only does this in one or two contexts or with one person.
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Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging