From 30+ top experts—the best AAC methods for students with autism

For children, adolescents, and adults with autism, AAC can have a tremendous positive impact on communication, social skills, and behavior. Now there's a comprehensive, up-to-date research volume that shows professionals what today's most effective AAC methods are—and why they're a perfect fit with a variety of learning approaches that work for people with autism.

Pat Mirenda—a leading authority on AAC and autism—and Teresa Iacono partner with more than 30 other experts to give readers the most current, in-depth information on a wide range of AAC methods and technologies. Through clear and compelling examinations of the latest research studies, professionals supporting people with autism will discover how these evidence-based AAC interventions can be used to

• promote children's natural speech and language development
  
  
• expand literacy skills
  
  
• modify challenging behavior
  
  
• build young children's social interaction skills
  
  
• encourage students' full membership and participation in inclusive classrooms
  
  
• give children socially appropriate ways to express needs and preferences
  
  
• replace unconventional communicative acts with more conventional ones
  
  
• help adolescents and adults develop strong social networks within their community

Readers will also get clarification of the common characteristics of effective AAC interventions and insight into the future research required to make AAC technologies more meaningful and motivating.

Essential for educators, SLPs, OTs, PTs, and other direct service providers, this new addition to the renowned Augmentative and Alternative Communication series will give readers a complete understanding of today's diverse AAC options—knowledge they'll use to help people with autism develop the communication and social skills they need to succeed.

Series Preface
Series Editors, Editorial Advisor, and Editorial Advisory Board
Volume Preface
About the Editors
Contributors
Acknowledgments

I: Overview and Assessment

1. Introduction to AAC for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Pat Mirenda

2: Assessment Issues
Teresa Iacono and Teena Caithness

II: Communication Modalities

3: Presymbolic Communicators with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Charity M. Rowland

4: Research on the Use of Manual Signs and Graphic Symbols in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review
Oliver Wendt

Appendix A: Overview and Appraisal of Studies Involving Manual Signs and Gestures

Appendix B: Overview and Appraisal of Studies Involving Graphic Symbols

5: Speech Output and Speech-Generating Devices in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Ralf W. Schlosser, Jeff Sigafoos, & Rajinder K. Koul

6: Effects of AAC on the Natural Speech Development of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Diane C. Millar

III: AAC Interventions

7: AAC and the SCERTS® Model: Incorporating AAC within a Comprehensive, Multidisciplinary Educational Program
Emily Rubin, Amy C. Laurent, Barry M. Prizant, & Amy M. Wetherby

8: The System for Augmenting Language: Implications for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
MaryAnn Romski, Rose A. Sevcik, Ashlyn Smith, R. Micheal Barker, Stephanie Folan, & Andrea Barton-Hulsey

9: Using AAC Technologies to Build Social Interaction with Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Kathryn D.R. Drager, Janice C. Light, & Erinn H. Finke

10: The Picture Exchange Communication System: Clinical and Research Applications
Andy Bondy & Lori Frost

11: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Using Visual Supports for Augmented Input with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Pat Mirenda & Kenneth E. Brown

12: Functional Communication Training and Choice-Making Interventions for the Treatment of Problem Behavior in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Jeff Sigafoos, Mark F. O'Reilly, & Giulio E. Lancioni

13: The Role of Aided AAC in Replacing Unconventional Communicative Acts with More Conventional Ones
Krista M. Wilkinson & Joe Reichle

IV: AAC-Related Issues

14: Literacy in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders Who Use AAC
David A. Koppenhaver & Karen A. Erickson

15: Membership, Participation, and Learning in General Education Classrooms for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Who Use AAC
Michael McSheehan, Rae M. Sonnenmeier, & Cheryl M. Jorgensen

Appendix: Beyond Access Model Best Practices

16: Supporting the Participation of Adolescents and Adults with Complex Communication Needs
Teresa Iacono, Hilary Johnson, & Sheridan Forster

Index