Specific hardware and software

The following includes information on specific AAC devices, as well how they have been used and where to find out more about them. Also are links to the product manufacturers and vendors. (See How to get answers to specific AAC-related questions.)

• Closing The Gap Resource Directory, a collection of computer-related products and services with descriptions and manufacturer contact information for products determined appropriate for use in special education and rehabilitation, at www.closingthegap.com/rd/index.html.

• ABLEDATA, an electronic database of information on assistive technology and rehabilitation equipment with more than 23,000 product listings, at www.abledata.com.

• "AAC Manufacturer List" at www.asel.udel.edu/at-online/technology/aac/manufacturers.html.

• The Communication Aid Manufacturers Association (CAMA), a not-for-profit organization of the world's leading manufacturers of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) software and hardware products, at www.aacproducts.org.

• "AAC Vendors Information" at aac.unl.edu/AACVI1.html.

• "Exhibitors at the 1996 Closing the Gap Conference" at www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/cita/vendors.htm.

• Fact sheets which cover a number of topics related to assistive technolgoy at www.ndipat.org/fact/factoc.htm.

• Assistive Technology Educational Network (ATEN) Equipment Database at http://www.aten.ocps.k12.fl.us/FMDATA/equipeval.taf?function=form.

• "Computer Based AAC Using the Synergy MAAC and Synergy PC—Strategies and Case Studies" by Dawn Russell, M.A., CCC-SLP & Bridgit Bruce at www.dinf.org/csun_98/csun98_175.htm.

Switches are most important for children with motor impairments because they allow a child to control an electronic AAC device if even just one consistent and reliable motor response can be established. (See Teaching children with motor impairments.) There are many, many different types of switches. There are switches designed to be activated by any part of the body, including fingers, hands, toes, feet, elbows, head, tongue, chin, and lips.

Obviously, the more switches a child is able to operate, the faster and more efficiently a child can utilize a communication device since different switches can handle different functions. Nevertheless, a child who is a single switch user can become an effective communicator. One method which can be used is to activate the switch to start scanning and then reactivate it at the right point to stop scanning. The inverse method is when the switch scans only as long as it is depressed. Thus, the child activates the switch to start scanning, continuing to depress the switch until the desired message is reached, and then releases the switch to activate the desired message. The step method is when a single activation of the switch moves the scanning cursor one element forward. When the switch is not activated for a longer specified period of time, the cursor automatically selects the element over which it is positioned. This method tends to be slower and requires many switch activations, one for each element passed over as well as one for the item chosen. However, it does not require as much physical control as the other techniques, and can be used initially until the child develops the ability to utilize a more efficient method (Reichle, York, & Sigafoos, 1991). (See Teaching direct selection and scanning techniques.)

OTHER RESOURCES:

• Assistive Technology Educational Network (ATEN) Switch Database at www.aten.ocps.k12.fl.us/FMDATA/Switches.taf?function=form.

• "Assistive Technology: It Can Help! Part III—Adaptive Input" at www.dreamms.org/mar95.htm.

• "Switches and Joysticks and Mouses, Oh My! Alternative Input Methods for Dynavox 2/2C and Dynamyte" by Kim Henry, BS, BSEE Rehabilitation Technology Specialist at www.dinf.org/csun_98/csun98_071.htm.

The following provide information on different symbol systems in use today.

• "AAC Symbol System References" at www.asel.udel.edu/at-online/technology/aac/symbols.html.