Tag Archive: natural speech

How Much Do We Understand When Context Cues Are Removed?

April 18, 2019 by - 1 Comment

How Much Do We Understand When Context Cues Are Removed?

Have you ever worked with clients who could benefit from AAC but resisted using it because they don’t realize that other people can’t understand their speech? Or a family who resists AAC because they perceive their loved one as intelligible when they are actually depending on the context to help them decipher the message? Have you ever worked with service providers who disagree on just how comprehensible their client’s natural speech really is? It doesn’t happen often, but there are occasions when it can be helpful to remove context cues from the mix and take a hard look at how well we understand someone’s natural speech. Formal testing may certainly play a role here, but informal assessment activities can also be helpful. Here is a task we sometimes use in these situations. The Materials Develop a list of 20 words and/or 20 sentences that will serve as the stimuli. For... [Read More...]

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Tracking Natural Speech Changes in AAC: PrAACtical Suggestions

November 16, 2015 by - Leave your thoughts

Tracking Natural Speech Changes in AAC: PrAACtical Suggestions

Let’s face it: No matter how much some of us love the AAC field, nothing makes us happier than hearing the natural speech of our prAACtical friends. Initially, it’s a good idea to capture the oral output of our AAC learners so that what we have a baseline of their productions. That can serve as a point of comparison later on when we want to look at how the student is changing over time. Didn’t do a baseline measure at the start of treatment or the school year? It’s nothing to stress about, but put this on your radar and consider gathering the information now so that you have it to work with later on. Here are some thoughts on moving forward. What to Track Track the sounds your student can produce: Complete a phonetic inventory by keeping a list of all the consonants and vowels the AAC learner has produced.... [Read More...]

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