EPAA/AAPE is a peer-reviewed, open-access, international, multilingual, and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and development analysts concerned with education policies. EPAA/AAPE accepts unpublished original manuscripts in English, Spanish and Portuguese without restriction as to conceptual and methodological perspectives, time or place. EPAA/AAPE publishes issues comprised of empirical articles, commentaries, and special issues at roughly weekly intervals, all of which pertain to educational policy, with direct implications for educational policy.
Alternative Communication beyond Assistive Technologies
Leila Regina Nunes, Catia Crivelenti de Figueiredo Walter
Abstract
The number of students with cerebral palsy and autism enrolled in traditional schools is growing each day. Teachers frequently need to be trained to employ Alternative Communication resources with these students, who present severe difficulties in oral communication. The studies conducted in traditional and special schools by the Language and Alternative Communication Research Group from the Graduate Program in Education of a public university will be briefly described. Alternative Communication resources will be presented. A description of how these resources facilitate the students’ linguistic, communicative, and social abilities will follow. Finally, issues related to the development of research in schools, the conception of communication, and the role of technology in Alternative Communication will be discussed.
Keywords
Special Education; assistive technology; alternative and augmentative communication; initial training.