Current mechanisms for adopting and supporting high-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) within special-education appear limited in their success, despite recognition of the potential benefits they represent for young emerging communicators. Prior research in this field has been restricted to discrete survey or interview methodologies. We present a five-month mixed-methods ethnographic study in a special-education school to explore the facilitators and barriers experienced by those using technology, with children who have little or no functional speech, to stimulate communication and language comprehension. Our analysis supports the outcomes of earlier studies, but also furnishes novel insights into the scale and urgency of addressing the problem—with implications for user-centred design within this community. We highlight infrastructure, policy, and recruitment deficits, and propose a two-fold solution: (i) an increase in engagement with this population through the provision of enhanced, user-centred support; and (ii) induction of the cross-disciplinary role of Assistive Technologist, to serve as mediator between teacher, aided communicator, and their assistive technology. This work represents a contribution towards establishing more effective operational, interactional, and pedagogical support for learners using high-tech communication devices.

This paper presents a narrative review of the current practices in assessing learners’ cognitive abilities and the limitations of traditional intelligence tests in capturing a comprehensive understanding of a child’s learning potential. Referencing prior research, it explores the concept of dynamic assessment (DA) as a promising yet underutilised alternative that focuses on a child’s responsiveness to learning opportunities. The paper highlights the potential of novel technologies, in particular tangible user interfaces (TUIs), in integrating computational science with DA to improve the access and accuracy of assessment results, especially for children with communication support needs (CSN), as a catalyst for abetting critical communicative competencies. However, existing research in this area has mainly focused on the automated mediation of DA, neglecting the human element that is crucial for effective solutions in special education. A framework is proposed to address these issues, combining pedagogical and sociocultural elements alongside adaptive information technology solutions in an assessment system informed by user-centred design principles to fully support teachers/facilitators and learners with CSN within the special education ecosystem.

Sharing personal stories with others is essential to human interaction and language development. To communicate, individuals use a variety of semiotic resources, including images, symbols, and written and spoken language. These modes are deployed in the co-construction of a daily face-to-face conversation. A self-created film can serve as a valuable resource to facilitate a deeper understanding of a personal experience, especially where spoken or written language may present a challenge, for example, for people who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Although the AAC literature indicates that using videos delivers benefits for aided communicators, guidelines on how to self-create, use, and transcribe them are rare. The present paper, a tutorial, describes how people who use AAC can develop a personal-video-scene (PVS) via the Film as Observable Communication (FaOC) method to utilize self-created films in sharing their stories. The first part of this paper, the theoretical framework, describes theories, methods, and practices from the fields of AAC, social semiotics, and visual anthropology, on which the FaOC method is based. The second part provides a step-by-step tutorial delivering practical guidance on how to create, use, and transcribe the PVS as a resource in conversations.

People with physical and mobility impairments continue to struggle to attain independence in the performance of routine activities and tasks. For example, browsing in a store and interacting with products located beyond an arm’s length may be impossible without the enabling intervention of a human assistant. This research article describes a study undertaken to design, develop, and evaluate potential interaction methods for motor-impaired individuals, specifically those who use wheelchairs. Our study includes a user-centered approach, and a categorization of wheelchair users based upon the severity of their disability and their individual needs. We designed and developed access solutions that utilize radio frequency identification (RFID), augmented reality (AR), and touchscreen technologies in order to help people who use wheelchairs to carry out certain tasks autonomously. In this way, they have been empowered to go shopping independently, free from reliance upon the assistance of others. A total of 18 wheelchair users participated in the completed study.

When access to natural speech is limited or challenging, as is the case for people with complex communication needs, self-created digital film can be practical to use as one of the resources within a multimodal conversation about a personal experience. The detailed and contextual information such audiovisual media offers with today’s available technology may assist the utility of other communication modes, such as (computerized) spoken, written or signed language, to foster mutual understanding and story growth. To promote the use of self-created film, here named a personal-video-scene (PVS), in the practice of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), a greater understanding is required of how such media can operate as a resource within social interactions, such as daily conversations. This study therefore introduces a multimodal coding model developed to study the employment of a PVS within a film-elicited conversational narrative, relating to four aspects of conversational control: (a) topic development, (b) conversational structure, (c) conversational repair and (d) conversational maintenance. A case study illustrates how the use of a PVS in story-sharing was instrumental in establishing common ground between narrators, boosting the frequency of comments and questions, mitigating instances of conversational repair and expanding topic development.

Purpose of Review: The aim of this narrative review is to examine how augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can be incorporated into digital image literacy for learners with complex communication needs. It explores how self-produced films can function as AAC-supported tools for sharing personal experiences and fostering inclusion and narrative development, with potentially transformative results. Recent Findings: Digital image literacy offers new opportunities for the integration of AAC into the inclusive education domain, particularly as it embeds within national curricula. Widely available technologies, such as tablets and smartphones, enable today’s learners to document their lives through digital film media and photography, to create personalized resources for use in everyday story sharing. This study synthesizes theoretical and pedagogical approaches that align these multimodal media technologies with broader language education objectives for inclusive education. Summary: Learners with complex communication needs produce their own films to bridge home and school contexts, thereby fostering digital image literacy and expressive communication skills. Future research should explore multimodal media production as a form of AAC supporting inclusive language pedagogy and story sharing.