Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Efficacy and Outcomes Measurement in Augmentative and Alternative Communication -- Validity: The Foundation of Evaluating the Efficacy of Interventions -- Formulating Research Questions -- On the Subject of Selection in AAC -- Single-Subject Experimental Designs -- Group Designs -- Longitudinal Designs -- Determining the Treatment Integrity of AAC Interventions -- Determining the Social Validity of AAC Interventions -- Synthesizing Efficacy Research in AAC -- Toward Evidence-Based Practice in AAC -- Presymbolic Communication Intervention -- Selecting Graphic Symbols for an Initial Request Lexicon -- Effects of AAC on Natural Speech Development -- Application of Current Literacy Theory, Efficacy Research, and Clinical Practice to AAC Users -- Efficacy of AAC Intervention in Individuals with Chronic Severe Aphasia -- Roles of Speech Output in AAC -- Evidence-Based Strategies for Promoting Generalization and Maintenance -- Comparative Efficacy Studies Using Single-Subject Experimental Designs -- Epilogue.

This book provides readers with essential tools for appraising evidence and outlining steps for planning and implementing better efficacy research. It aims to help researchers and practitioners develop the necessary skills for moving the augmentative and alternative communication field toward evidence-based practice. The Efficacy of Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Toward Evidence-Based Practice is a crucial addition to anyone's bookshelf who is involved in the AAC enterprise, including speech-language pathologists, special educators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, students in professional programs, individuals using AAC, their families, and applied researchers. It provides solutions to avoid common pitfalls of prominent research designs for evaluating efficacy and discusses how to formulate research questions and deal with issues of participant selection. It suggests how to plan and evaluate the integrity and social validity of interventions.

English

Description based on print version record.