The RERC on AAC will create four consumer-led research teams during the life of the grant to address consumer-identified focus areas such as community living, emergency communication for people with CCN, health and function, employment, and technology access for people with the most severe disabilities. Each team will be co-directed by a person who uses AAC and David McNaughton, and supported by the work of graduate students learning techniques of user-centered research.
The team will use focus group and/or survey methods to obtain a detailed understanding of challenges and potential solutions, and describe desired specifications of AAC engineering solutions to address unmet needs. We will then convene key stakeholders (i.e., consumers who use AAC, service providers, AAC manufacturers, mainstream technology developers) at an AAC Consumer and Technology Forum to (a) review survey/focus group findings with an emphasis on unmet needs, (b) discuss opportunities and drawbacks both with existing solutions, as well as newly emerging technologies, and (c) identify supports and barriers to the development of new solutions that address market needs.
