icommunicate Guide Adult Information Assistive Communication Trialing equipment
| Trialing and assessment for Assistive Communication Devices / AAC |
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Choosing the right device for your needs An assistive communication device (also referred to as Alternative and Augmentative Communication or AAC) can be a huge facilitator to individuals with communication difficulties. It is crucial that you do a thorough trial of several different options to really find the “best fit”. The higher tech, most expensive option is not always the best. You have to take account of many variables including portability, functionality and speed of use. It may be that a communication device is not the answer and the individual can communicate more quickly and effectively using sign, gesture and some minimal speech. We need to ask a number of questions prior to setting up a trial of equipment: What are the individual's skills? Draw up a profile of the individual, his difficulties and his skills. These are some of the questions you might ask:
These are all important questions to start to decide on some communication options and how you might access them. What are the individual's needs and what environments do they participate in?
The goals of the individual and the family are also important in determining the type of equipment you want to trial. For instance, if the individual wants to go out on his own and buy a coffee, he may need something with voice output. He may also need something that has voice output at a high volume if he is going to visit busy and noisy environments. What tools will match the individual's skills, environment and needs?
An experienced speech and language therapist / pathologist should have a good idea of the type of devices and communication systems that are available to facilitate the individual. Once a list of options has been discussed, you may also need to consider how the individual will access the device e.g. hand control, switches, eye gaze etc. Trial and compare the tools Set some trial goals and ask the individual to perform tasks based on his needs using the different types of equipment e.g. go and buy a cup of coffee using the communication device. Compare the devices:
When you have compared the alternatives, make a choice and prepare a set-up and implementation strategy to train the individual and his team to use the equipment, and adapt and enhance the communication potential. The SETT Framework Above, we gave a very simple account of trialling equipment. Joy Zabala has developed the SETT framework which facilitates the assessment and trial process and helps find the best option for an individual, taking into account his needs, his skills and his environment. Check our links section to find out more about the SETT framework.The use of assistive communication devices, both hi-tech and lo-tech, are very much part the icommunicate philosophy. This website is all about communication and a total communication environment. This means we focus on every modality that can be used to facilitate communication. At icommunicate we plan to have a heavy focus on assistive communication and technology. Visit our online Resource Centre to find more information, resources, and books relating to assistive communication. |
