In early 2019, we shared our involvement in the AAC journal’s special issue on the State of the Science in AAC. We highlighted 5 articles which discussed the science and its potential to enhance interventions and technologies for individuals with CCN.
We are excited to announce that one of those articles, “Building capacity in AAC: A person-centred approach to supporting participation by people with complex communication needs” (McNaughton et al., 2019), was the most frequently downloaded paper in the AAC journal in 2019!
In this paper, McNaughton and colleagues discuss building capacity in AAC and the importance of providing person-centred AAC services to enable individuals with CCN to achieve full participation.
Many thanks to all who downloaded the article and who are devoted to building capacity and awareness in the AAC field!
Abstract: Effective communication is based both on the capacity of the person with complex communication needs, and of other key stakeholders (including communication and education professionals, family members, community partners, and healthcare professionals), to ensure that appropriate AAC supports are provided. In this paper, we describe strategies to build awareness of AAC and to assist people with complex communication needs in obtaining needed services; to build the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of AAC service providers; to provide instruction for people with complex communication needs, as well as communication partners and advocates; and to develop communication supports in society more broadly. We also provide an agenda for building capacity in research and development activities to support full participation by people with complex communication needs throughout society.
McNaughton, D., Light, J., Beukelman, D., Klein, C., Nieder, D., & Nazareth, G. (2019). Building capacity in AAC: A person-centred approach to supporting participation by people with complex communication needs. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 35, 56-68. doi:10.1080/07434618.2018.1556731