Empowering AAC-User to Independent Communication with the Computer

摘要

Individuals who need augmentative and alternative communication fall into three main groups depending on the extent to which they need a means of expression, an augmentative language or an alternative language. These groups are the expressive, supportive and alternative language group. The three groups are characterised by either the individuals not having begun speaking at the normal time or having lost their speech skills as the result of an injury. The biggest differences between the groups are the degrees of language comprehension, ability to learn to understand and to use language. People with cerebral palsy belong to the expressive language group, as do many people with normal motor skills who are unable to speak for example as a result of larynx operation. They have a good understanding of other people's speech but are unable to express themselves with the aid of language. Many individuals who belong to the expressive language group use alternative communication permanently. Alternative communication in this group varies from gestures to high tech AAC-sys-tems. Those systems offer the most communicative power by providing a means to initiate "voiced" communication, and they allow storage of large amounts of vocabulary which gives the individual more topics on which to communicate. The advantage of using a computer is that these people are not dependent on others to interpret for them.