Teaching Children who use AAC to Produce Rule-Based Semantic-Syntactic Relations

描述（由申请人提供）：在美国，大约每1000人中就有8人（约240万人）需要辅助和替代交流（AAC），而学龄前言语语言病理学家（slp）的案例中，需要辅助和替代交流的儿童所占比例高得惊人，约为24%。许多使用AAC的儿童具有接受性语言特征，这表明他们有使用生成语言的潜力。然而，即使使用AAC的儿童具有相对较强的接受性语言特征，他们的表达性语言结果也往往较差。这条研究路线的长期目标是确定干预方法，改善使用AAC的儿童的表达性语言缺陷，这一目标非常适合NIDCD的使命，即解决与沟通障碍患者相关的生物医学和行为问题。本项目包括两个具体目标：目标1是评估具有对比目标干预的辅助AAC建模对使用AAC的学龄前儿童有效使用两项语义-句法关系（如动作-对象）的影响，目标2侧重于评估参与者将学习推广到未经训练的语义-句法关系的能力。治疗前理解水平较强的儿童（即TACL-3平均水平的1.5个标准差）将被纳入研究。据预测，所有的孩子至少都会在语法正确的信息表达上有所收获。实验控制的单一受试者，跨目标和参与者设计的多个探针将用于评估结果，模拟建模分析将用于衡量每个参与者进展的统计显著性。共有16名使用AAC的儿童（4-5岁）参加。每个孩子将被指导使用三个语义-句法关系和三个附加的泛化度量。具有对比目标干预的辅助AAC建模将包括儿童AAC装置上提供的可逆目标模型（例如，DOG BITES PIG; PIG BITES DOG）。拟议的AAC研究的创新包括：(1)教儿童将口语“映射”到AAC设备上；(2)语法规则教学，这一领域在AAC群体中被忽视；(3)强调语序，这对使用AAC的儿童来说尤其成问题。该项目的结果将对干预产生直接影响，并将作为更大规模、更精细（R01）干预研究的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Approximately 8 per 1,000 people in the U.S. (> 2.4 million) require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and surprisingly high percentage - about 24% - of preschool speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) caseloads consists of children who need AAC. Many children using AAC have receptive language profiles indicating the potential to use generative language. However, even when children who use AAC possess relatively strong receptive language profiles, they frequently have poor expressive language outcomes. The long-term aim of this line of research is to identify intervention approaches that ameliorate the expressive language deficits of children who use AAC, a goal well-suited to the NIDCD's mission to address biomedical and behavioral problems associated with individuals who have communication disorders. The proposed project is comprised of two specific aims: Aim 1 is to evaluate the effect of an aided AAC modeling with contrastive targets intervention on the productive use of two-term semantic- syntactic relations (e.g., action-object) by preschoolers who use AAC, and Aim 2 focuses on evaluating the participants' ability to generalize learning to untrained semantic-syntactic relations. Children with relatively strong pre-treatment comprehension levels (i.e., > 1.5 SD of the mean on the TACL-3) will be included in the study. It is predicted that all children will make at least some gains with producing syntactically correct messages. An experimentally controlled single subject, multiple probes across targets and participants design will be used to evaluate outcomes, and a Simulated Modeling Analysis will be used to measure the statistical significance of each participant's progress. A total of 16 children who use AAC (ages 4-5) will participate. Each child will be instructed in the use of three semantic-syntactic relations with three additional generalization measures. The aided AAC modeling with contrastive targets intervention will include models of reversible targets (e.g., DOG BITES PIG; PIG BITES DOG) provided on the child's AAC device. Innovations for the proposed AAC study include: (1) teaching children to 'map' spoken language onto AAC devices; (2) teaching syntactic rules, an area largely ignored with AAC populations; and (3) emphasizing word order, which is particularly problematic for children using AAC. The outcomes of this project will have immediate implications for intervention and will serve as the basis for larger and more refined (R01) intervention studies. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research is relevant to public health because it aims to contribute to a program of research focused on significantly improving the clinical services offered to children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Because the project is focused on ameliorating the long-term expressive language deficits of children who use AAC, the project is relevant to NIDCD's mission to address the biomedical and behavioral problems associated with individuals who have communication disorders. Failing to attain functional language skills presents a significant public health problem; these outcomes have profound effects on short- and long-term educational and social outcomes, as well having lifelong negative impacts on employment opportunities.