RESUMEN
The primary purpose of this study was to characterize the frequency and nature of augmented input that adult partners provided to 13 youth with mental retardation as they began to use the System for Augmenting Language (SAL). Analyses of youth-partner interactions revealed differences in the frequency with which home and school partners provided augmented input and in the manner and style of home and school partners' augmented input, particularly in directiveness and position of lexigram symbols within Utterances. Overall, partners naturally provided augmented input in a manner likely to promote youth's learning of the SAL.
Asunto(s)
Equipos de Comunicación para Personas con Discapacidad , Discapacidad Intelectual/complicaciones , Trastornos del Lenguaje/complicaciones , Trastornos del Lenguaje/terapia , Trastornos del Habla/complicaciones , Trastornos del Habla/terapia , Adolescente , Adulto , Niño , Humanos , Terapia del Lenguaje , Estudios Longitudinales , MasculinoRESUMEN
Communication devices designed to augment the language development of individuals with severe cognitive disabilities and little or no functional speech typically contain primarily nouns because they seem easiest to acquire and evaluate. In this study, the effect of a more diverse vocabulary was assessed. Systematic observations of the use of computerized speech-output devices by 12 youth with moderate or severe mental retardation and severe spoken language disability and by their partners were made over a 2-year period. Social-regulative symbols (e.g., "please," "I'm finished") were used as soon as they were introduced, and their availability expanded the focus of conversations both at home and at school. Implications for conceptualizing variation in early language use and for the design of language intervention programs are discussed.