Attitudes Toward Communication Modes and Message Formulation Technique Used for Storytelling by People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
By Richter, Melanie; Ball, Laura J.; Beukelman, David R.; Lasker, Joanne; Ullman, Cara; Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 170-186Publication Date: September 2003
Paper summarizes the results of two studies conducted to evaluate attitudes toward components of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) used to tell stories by people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The first study evaluated the attitudes of three groups of listeners toward unintelligible natural speech, speech presented via communication notebook, and synthesized speech: (1) people with ALS, (2) caregivers, and (3) unfamiliar listeners. The listener groups viewed videotapes of people with ALS giving three narratives, each with one of the three different modes of communication. In the second study, the attitudes of three groups of listeners toward three message formulation techniques (word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, and complete narrative) used for storytelling were evaluated. The results for both studies indicated a high level of agreement among the participants with ALS and their caregivers, as well as a high level of agreement among unfamiliar listeners. The results of the first study indicated a preference for AAC strategies such as the use of communication notebooks and synthesized speech over unintelligible natural speech. The results of the second study demonstrated a preference for the sentence-by-sentence and complete narrative message formulation techniques. Implications for future research are discussed.
Published by: International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) (Website:http://www.isaac-online.org)
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J46305
