Avaz Webinar - Demystifying AAC

2. @avazapp #avazwebinar

3. ABOUT ME
Ajit Narayanan
ajitn@avazapp.com
CEO, Avaz Inc.
• Created Avaz in 2007, initially
for India
• Major challenge: make it work
where there’s low therapist-
led intervention
• Named one of the world’s top
young inventors by MIT; TED
talk 1M+ views
• Today, Avaz is used in USA,
Denmark, Italy, Australia

4. WHY DOES AAC NEED DEMYSTIFICATION?
AAC works – according to research.
In practice:
- Kids don’t get it
- Kids abandon it
- Doesn’t show great outcomes
Everyone has their own best practices!
- Lots of jargon
- Many competing ideas and interpretations (sometimes vendor
driven)
BUT AAC IS BASED ON SOUND SCIENCE,
AND HAS SOLID FIRST PRINCIPLES.
SO LET’S DEMYSTIFY!

5. WHAT WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT TODAY
1. Speech, language and communication; expectations from AAC
2. Communication as a social activity
3. Anatomy of a conversation; pragmatic patterns
4. Core words vs pragmatic vocabulary
5. Aided language input as an AAC strategy
6. Learnability; the use of color
7. AAC systems that grow with the child
8. Fluency and how to achieve it with motor planning

6. SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
SPEECH: Articulation – physical expression
LANGUAGE: Shared meaning. Symbolic,
combinational
COMMUNICATION: Interaction between
people. Integral part of social living

7. WHAT DO WE EXPECT FROM AAC?
• Width of communication and
conversations
• Speaker autonomy
• Spontaneous novel utterance generation
WE EXPECT IT TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION.

8. ANATOMY OF A CONVERSATION
Hey, what’s up?
Hi!
That sandwich looks yummy!
Yes it is.
I just made it!
Cool!
Do you want one?
Sure!
Could you make one for me, please?
No cheese, though. I’m dieting!

9. ANATOMY OF A CONVERSATION
Phatic Hey, what’s up?
Hi! Phatic
That sandwich looks yummy! Expression of opinion
Agreement Yes it is.
Relating information I just made it!
Cool! Phatic
Question [Y/N] Do you want one?
Sure! Agreement
Could you make one for me, please? Request
No cheese, though. Expressing a preference
I’m dieting! Relating information

10. ANATOMY OF A CONVERSATION
Phatic Good morning, sir.
Question Would you like a drink?
Hmm… Phatic
What choices do I have? Question
Joke “Yes” and “No”.

11. WHAT IS THIS PRAGMATICS THING, EXACTLY?
Phatic / greeting
Relating information
Sharing information
Agree and disagree
Protest
Answer a question
Instruct others
Request an action
Ask for things
Ask a question
Joke
Describe
Complain
Comment
Express opinion
Express feeling
Discuss interest
Bargain
Attract attention
Make a suggestion

12. HOW DOES PRAGMATICS AFFECT HOW MY
VOCABULARY IS ORGANIZED?
ACTIONS different
PEOPLE
more
PLACESFOOD
wantno
DESCRIBE
MY
SENTENCES
stop
feel
yes THINGS
QUESTIONS
1
22
1

13. HOW DOES PRAGMATICS AFFECT HOW MY
VOCABULARY IS ORGANIZED?
ACTIONS different
PEOPLE
more
PLACESFOOD
wantno
DESCRIBE
MY
SENTENCES
stop
feel
yes THINGS
QUESTIONS
1
2
33 3
4

14. PRAGMATICS AS A “NEW LANGUAGE”
ACTIONS different
PEOPLE
more
PLACESFOOD
wantno
DESCRIBE
MY
SENTENCES
stop
feel
yes THINGS
QUESTIONS
1 1
2
3 33
4

15. CORE WORDS
• Pragmatics: Learning
language without
learning words?
• 96.3% of toddler
utterance = 23 words
• BUT: communication
first!

16. CORE WORDS
• Why not both instead?
• Pragmatic patterns built out
of core words instead of
sentences
• Make top 100 easily
accessible

17. AIDED LANGUAGE INPUT
• Best strategy for AAC intervention
• Caregiver communicates using AAC to the
child
• Child mimics the caregiver and acquires
language
• Child needs CONTINUOUS exposure to
language
• AAC needs to go outside the classroom!
Aided language input is effective in increasing spontaneous speech and
augmented communication & decreasing aberrant behaviors
Cafiero, 1995, 2001, 2005; Dexter, 1998, Acheson, 2006,Romski & Sevcik,
2008

18. LEARNABILITY
ALI template:
1. Caregiver learns AAC
2. Caregiver uses AAC while talking to kid
3. Kid picks up how to use AAC
4. Kid uses AAC
Making step 3 happen is “learnability”.
1. Communication temptations – cause and effect
2. Multi-sensory input

19. COLOR CODING

20. COLOR CODING

21. VOCABULARY THAT GROWS
How can AAC systems accommodate a growing
child?
• Each grade should build on previous one
• Evaluate vocabulary system upstream also
• Vocab needs you to start from scratch? Bad
idea!
• Usually, going through the learning trough kills
communication intent

22. VOCABULARY THAT GROWSVOCABULARY THAT GROWS

23. VOCABULARY THAT GROWS

24. VOCABULARY THAT GROWS

25. THE FLUENCY QUESTION
• AAC is being used as an AT as well as for education
• Either way, should facilitate speed with use
• Not just about speed: cognitive availability
• Ability to think and communicate at the same time:
that’s called FLUENCY.
• Brain capable of massive parallel processing
• AAC context: motor automaticity

26. MOTOR AUTOMATICITY IN AAC SYSTEMS
Only one rule:
One word, one path, one position
i.e. Every word has a unique position that never changes
Not a property of some AAC systems only. Almost all AAC
systems can be configured to facilitate motor
automaticity.
Main principle: DON’T REARRANGE, DON’T REPEAT!

27. STRATEGIES
The magic is not in the app. It’s in the intervention.
#1 strategy: Aided Language Input
Two other tips:
- Keep a low-tech version handy
- Encourage all kinds of augmented communication –
not just AAC!

28. Q & A