Overview

This revolutionary educational tool will greatly benefit instructors, students, and practicing clinicians:

Instructors. Students in Master's programs frequently complain about the “disconnect” between their classroom experiences with faculty and their clinical supervisors. Faculty and supervisors do not often have time to meet and students may have difficulty applying classroom knowledge to their clinical experiences. Augmentative and Alternative Communication: An Interactive Clinical Casebook is meant to create a bridge between classroom and practicum instruction; and as such, provides a valuable tool for instructors or supervisors to discuss cases and techniques. Instructors frequently look for videos to supplement their instruction, but libraries are sometimes limited.

Students. In a field where evidence and theory must merge with clinical practice, students need to have practical application of material with real people. In order to achieve their goal of becoming outstanding clinical professionals, they need access to experts modeling best practice. Students may complete a Master's program having only accrued a small number of clinical hours, with one or two clients, in AAC; this is insufficient because students need multiple models of best practices within their preparation. In order to gain their clinical certification, speech-language pathologists are required to demonstrate knowledge and skills in assessment and intervention (KASA) for AAC; which must be documented through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Currently, clinical practice for students typically only offers limited chances for students to gain experience with people who use AAC. Depending on their practicum placements, some students may get a chance to work with several individuals requiring AAC, whereas others may not see any; furthermore, the level of the supervisor's experience may vary. While developing clinical skills, it is important for students to repeatedly observe good models. In practicum situations, with real people, this may not always be possible. Still photos and textbooks do not adequately capture the clinical situation, and simulations are still only avatar-based substitutes for actual clients. Augmentative and Alternative Communication is authored and edited by experts in the AAC field and is 100% digital. This tool provides the student with expert models and the ability to view whatever topic they have interest in and view it as many times as they want.

Practicing Clinicians. The range of individual disorders within AAC is far reaching and busy-working clinicians do not have time to re-read textbook chapters. For those clinicians already working who may be changing the focus of their clinical work due to a change in position or a change in their job environment, they need ready access to models of service delivery that will allow them to quickly catch up on the specific areas of AAC practice in which they require further instruction.

Audience

Primary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Secondary Subject: Occupational Therapy
Secondary Subject: Special Education
Audience Level: Professional/Textbook - 90 Days

• Part I: Assessment and Intervention for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities
  • Autism: A case of a school-aged child with autism who is non-speaking. The child will use a variety of communication strategies.
  • Cerebral Palsy: Pre-School: A case of a 3-5 year-old child with cerebral who uses a variety of AAC strategies.
  • Cerebral Palsy: School Age: A case of a 6-15-year-old child with cerebral palsy.
  • Cerebral Palsy: Adult: A case of an adult with cerebral palsy.
  • Down’s Syndrome: A case of a child with Down’s syndrome.
  • Late Talkers
  • Intellectual Disabilities: A case of a child with an intellectual disability who uses a variety of AAC strategies.
  • Intellectual Disabilities: School Age. A case of a child with intellectual disability.
  • Intellectual Disabilities: A case of an adult with an intellectual disability who uses a variety of AAC strategies.
  • Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A case of a child with apraxia of speech who uses a variety of AAC strategies.
  • Dual Sensory Impairments: A case of a child who is deaf and blind and requires AAC.
  • Bilingual issues: A case of a child who requires AAC who is growing up in a bilingual household.
• Part II: Assessment and Intervention for Individuals with Acquired Disabilities
  Complex Communication Needs associated with Stable Acquired Disorders
  • Traumatic Brain Injury: A case of a child with a traumatic brain injury who uses a variety of AAC strategies.
  • Cortical Stroke: A case of a person with aphasia who uses AAC.
  • Brainstem Stroke: A case of a person with Locked-In Syndrome (LIS) who uses AAC.
  • Traumatic Brain Injury: A case of a person with cognitive-linguistic challenges who uses AAC.
  • Spinal Cord Injury: A case of a person with paralysis who uses AAC.
  • Head and Neck Cancer: A case of a person following surgery to remove cancer.
  • Bilingual Aphasia: A case of a bilingual person who uses AAC after a stroke.
• Complex Communication Needs associated with Degenerative Disorders
  • Parkinson’s Disease: A case of a person with severe form of dysarthria who requires AAC.
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A case of a person with severe form of dysarthria who requires AAC.
  • Dementia: A case of a person with a degenerative form of cognitive-linguistic challenges.
  • Primary Progressive Aphasia: A case of a person with a degenerative form of aphasia.
• Part III: Temporarily Unable to Speak
  • Child post-surgery: A case of a child scheduled for surgery that will result in her being unable to speak for a short period of time.
  • Guillian-Barre syndrome/ Other rare adult case

About The Editors

John McCarthy, PhD, CCC-SLP

John McCarthy is Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences at Ohio University.

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Aimee Dietz, PhD, CCC-SLP

Aimee Dietz is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Cincinnati.

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