Aided Augmentative Communication for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Just as autism is a continuum of disorders, it is associated with a broad range of neurodevelopmental, social, and communication deficits. For individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) has a major impact on their daily lives, often reducing the occurrence of challenging behaviors.

Aided Augmentative Communication for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders is a practical guide to the field, offering readers a solid grounding in ASD, related complex communication needs (CCN), and AAC, especially visual and computer-based technologies. Widely used interventions and tools in AAC are reviewed—not just how they work, but why they work—to aid practitioners in choosing those most suited to individual clients or students. Issues in evaluation for aided AAC and debates concerning its usability round out the coverage. Readers come away with a deeper understanding of the centrality of communication for clients with ASD and the many possibilities for intervention.

Key areas of coverage include:

• AAC and assessment of people with ASD and CCN.
• Interdisciplinary issues and collaboration in assessment and treatment.
• AAC intervention mediated by natural communication partners.
• Functional communication training with AAC.
• The controversy surrounding facilitated communication.
• Sign language versus AAC.

Aided Augmentative Communication for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders is an essential resource for clinicians/practitioners, researchers, and graduate students in such fields as child and school psychology, speech pathology, language education, developmental psychology, behavior therapy, and educational technology.

Jennifer B. Ganz, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Texas A&M University. She received her doctorate at the University of Kansas, with a concentration in autism spectrum disorders and behavioral disorders and is a Board Certified Behavior AnalystR - Doctoral level. Dr. Ganz has worked as a general and special education teacher and an educational consultant and continues to consult and present for schools and parents on topics relating to autism spectrum disorders and behavior difficulties. She has also been a speaker at regional, national, and international conferences on topics including interventions for behavior and autism spectrum disorders, specifically, strategies to address social and communication skills. Dr. Ganz has received a leadership/doctoral personnel preparation grant to prepare researchers with expertise in autism and behavior analysis, as well as several small grants to fund research projects involving students with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. In addition, Dr. Ganz has authored or co-authored numerous articles, books, and chapters.