High-technology augmentative and alternative communication for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and complex communication needs: a meta-analysis


Ganz J. B., Morin K. L., Foster M. J., Vannest K. J., Tosun D. G., Gregori E. V., ...More

AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION, vol.33, no.4, pp.224-238, 2017 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 33 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2017
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/07434618.2017.1373855
  • Journal Name: AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.224-238
  • Keywords: Intellectual and developmental disabilities, Autism spectrum disorder, augmentative and alternative communication, meta-analysis, single-case experimental design, Tau-U, SPEECH-GENERATING DEVICES, SINGLE-CASE RESEARCH, AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS, PICTURE EXCHANGE, QUANTITATIVE SYNTHESIS, COMPARING ACQUISITION, COMPARATIVE EFFICACY, EARLY INTERVENTION, REQUESTING SKILLS, SUBJECT RESEARCH
  • Anadolu University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The use of mobile technology is ubiquitous in modern society and is rapidly increasing in novel use. The use of mobile devices and software applications ("apps") as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is rapidly expanding in the community, and this is also reflected in the research literature. This article reports the social-communication outcome results of a meta-analysis of single-case experimental research on the use of high-tech AAC, including mobile devices, by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder. Following inclusion determination, and excluding studies with poor design quality, raw data from 24 publications were extracted and included 89 A-B phase contrasts. Tau-U nonparametric, non-overlap effect size was used to aggregate the results across all studies for an omnibus and moderator analyses. Kendall's S was calculated for confidence intervals, p-values, and standard error. The omnibus analysis indicated overall low to moderate positive effects on social-communication outcomes for high-tech AAC use by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.