Multimodal AAC for Individuals with Down Syndrome

by Krista M. Wilkinson Ph.D. (Editor), Lizbeth H. Finestack Ph.D., CCC-SLP (Editor)

Overview

Many people with Down syndrome—one of the most common genetically-linked developmental disabilities—experience difficulty developing spoken and written communication skills. In this groundbreaking book, discover how augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can enhance communicative competence and improve outcomes for people with Down syndrome across the lifespan. The newest volume in Beukelman and Light’s respected Augmentative and Alternative Communication Series, this book fully explores how interdisciplinary, multimodal AAC strategies can promote speech, language, and literacy success across many contexts, including homes, schools, communities, health care settings, and the workplace.

Bringing together an interdisciplinary group of more than 25 experts on AAC and Down syndrome, this is a must-have resource for speech-language pathologists, special educators, and AAC specialists—and a key supplementary text for courses on AAC and developmental disabilities. Use the research-based guidance in this book to help people with Down syndrome develop stronger communication skills and participate meaningfully in their schools and communities, from early childhood through adulthood.

READERS WILL LEARN HOW TO:

• Skillfully pair unaided AAC supports (gestures and manual signs) with aided AAC (technology and other supports external to the body)
• Enrich young children’s communication and language development with AAC
• Use AAC to boost older children’s vocabulary, grammatical language, and narrative language skills
• Enhance reading instruction using AAC technology
• Supplement speech and improve speech intelligibility with carefully chosen interventions and visual communication aids
• Engage whole families as collaborative partners to integrate AAC supports into everyday life
• Address young adults’ communication needs, as they evolve to include more varied communication partners, more complex topics, and new contexts
• Assess cognitive and social functioning in adolescents and adults who use AAC
• Support communication and self-advocacy across health care settings with AAC strategies

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681254135
Publisher:	Brookes Publishing
Publication date:	11/16/2020
Series:	AAC
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Krista M. Wilkinson, Ph.D., is a professor at the Pennsylvania State University and Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She was Editor/Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology from 2012–2016. Dr. Wilkinson’s current research applies the tools of neuroscience, in particular automated eye tracking technologies, to understand visual and cognitive processing of individuals with severe disabilities, with the goal of using this information to optimize visual augmentative and alternative communication interventions used to support their communication functioning.

Lizbeth H. Finestack, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. She is also a speech-language pathologist certified by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Dr. Finestack’s long-term research aim is to identify efficient and effective language interventions for children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders, including children with developmental language disorder, Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, or autism spectrum disorder. She has built a research program focused on developing new child language intervention techniques, better understanding the language profiles of children and adolescents with differing neurodevelopmental disorders, and measuring intervention outcomes of individuals with different language and cognitive profiles.

Table of Contents

Series Preface
Series Editors
About the Editors
About the Contributors
Acknowledgements
Dedication


Section I    Introduction to Down syndrome and Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Chapter 1    Introduction to How Augmentative and Alternative Communication Can Promote Communication, Speech, And Language in Individuals with Down Syndrome Across the Lifespan
Krista M. Wilkinson

Chapter 2    Introduction to Individuals with Down syndrome: Genetics, Cognition, Behavior, and Language
Len Abbeduto and Emily D. McFadd

Chapter 3    Speech Intelligibility and Communication in Down Syndrome: Intervention Approaches and the Role of Speech Supplementation
Raymond D. Kent and Houri K. Vorperian

Chapter 4    Overview of Multimodal AAC Intervention Across the Lifespan For Individuals With Down Syndrome
Emily Laubscher and Krista M. Wilkinson


Section II    Considerations for Communication Supports across the Lifespan
Chapter 5    Integration of AAC into Early Language Intervention With Children With Down Syndrome
MaryAnn Romski, Rose A. Sevcik, Andrea Barton-Hulsey, Evelyn L. Fisher, Marika R. King, Phebe Albert, Gal Kaldes, Casy Walters, and Candace Evans

Chapter 6    Language Development of School-Age Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome and Pertinent Interventions That Integrate AAC
Lizbeth H. Finestack and Bobbi L. Rohwer

Chapter 7    Adolescents and Adults with Down Syndrome: Supporting Communication and Participation with AAC
David B. McNaughton, Salena Babb, and Christine Holyfield

Chapter 8    Assessment and Intervention of Cognitive and Social Functioning in Adolescents, Young Adults, and Older Individuals with Down Syndrome
Marie Moore Channell and Susan J. Loveall


Section III    Supporting Participation across Valued Contexts
Chapter 9    Collaborating with Families to Support Multimodal AAC For Individuals with Down Syndrome
Tara O’Neill, Kelsey Mandak, and Gregory M. Fosco

Chapter 10    Supporting Communication and Self-Advocacy Related to Special Health and Medical Needs and Services
Stephanie L. Santoro

Chapter 11    Supporting Literacy and Access to Technology for Learning
Andrea Barton-Hulsey and Rose A. Sevcik


Index