Patenaude, D., McNaughton, D., & Liang, Z. (2024). Using visual scene displays with young children: An evidence-based practice synthesis. Journal of Special Education Technology, 0(0) 1-13.
Open Access at https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434241263061
Background
The communication interactions that take place in childhood form the foundation for a lifetime of intellectual, linguistic, and social development. In order to better support the communication of young children who require AAC, research has investigated the use of visual scene displays (VSDs) and video VSDs. This study sought to compare the current VSD and video VSD research literature to the CEC Standards for Special Education, and to evaluate the evidence base of VSDs and video VSDs as a communication support for children with speech and speech-related disabilities in early childhood settings.
Results
Twelve of the 14 articles located for the review met all eight quality indicators as identified by the CEC Standards for evidence-based practices, and presented positive results for 37 of the 42 participants.
Conclusion
According to the CEC guidelines, in order for an intervention to be considered evidence-based there must be at least 20 participants across five high quality studies who demonstrate a positive functional relationship between the intervention and the selected dependent variable(s). Twelve of the 14 studies were determined to meet all of the quality indicators identified by the CEC guidelines, with a total of 42 participants across the 12 studies. Among the 42 participants, 37 demonstrated positive effects with the intervention, while 5 demonstrated no significant effects. No participants demonstrated a negative effect. Given these criteria, VSDs can be appropriately described as an EBP for supporting communication skills with young children according to CEC guidelines (Cook et al., 2015).
This review provides evidence that the use of VSDs and video VSDs with young children with speech-related disabilities to address communication goals meets the CEC Standards for EBPs (Cook et al., 2015). This technology provides a promising tool for promoting communication, participation, and inclusion in early childhood settings for children with communication support needs. – Patenaude et al., (2024)
