Språk och samspel med Alternativ och Kompletterande Kommunikation (AKK) En interventionsstudie i gymnasiesärskolan med varierande språklig bakgrund

Abstract

The objective of the study was to describe and analyze linguistic communication among pupils using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) before and after an educational intervention. The purpose of the intervention was to increase the quantity and quality of the pupils’ use of graphic symbols and speech generating devices and to increase the linguistic interaction between pupils. Four pupils, all users of AAC, participated in the study, which was carried out at a secondary special school. The communication recorded during two lessons before the intervention constituted the baseline of the study, which was followed up during two lessons after eight weeks of intervention. The communication during these lessons was analysed according to predefined categories. The results show that the pupils used their speech generating devices to a considerably greater extent during the two lessons after the intervention than before, and that they more often initiated communication. Most utterances consisted of one word both before and after the intervention but when graphic AAC was used in combination with graphic sheets, all pupils produced longer utterances than they did when using other kinds of communication aids. Low-technology graphic maps thus seem to support the development of multi-word phrases and grammatical functions. Another important finding was the increased willingness to interact that the pupils displayed after the intervention. They more often directed utterances directly to their peers instead of turning to the teacher or the assistant.