A CASE STUDY ON AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC) AND CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

Communication and education

Introduction: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems are considered as one of the effective intervention procedure and approaches for addressing the communication needs of children and adults who have difficulties to communicate with others through speech. AAC systems are acknowledged as a functional means of communication procedure for individuals with complex communication needs. Several study identified that, children with cerebral palsy require physical, cognitive- behavioral, social interaction and communication assistance for participating in the school activities. Objective: The main objective of the study was to find out the changes in classroom participation of children with cerebral palsy after introducing the augmentative and alternative communication. Methodology: The study was conducted following the single study design in quantitative research method. Single case study design is an observational study design which allows the researcher to observe a treatment in before and after condition in order to make assumption about the effectiveness of the treatment. Result: The result shows positive changes in classroom participation of children with cerebral palsy after using AAC. The mean score of the participants before introducing AAC in classroom was 22.5 and after using the AAC it was 67 which indicated that, the mean score of the participants was improved by 44.5% after inaugurating the AAC in the classroom. Conclusion: AAC has positive changes in classroom participation of children with cerebral palsy. Improvement has been shown on communication purpose of function, school participation and social interaction after introduction of the AAC to the children with CP. For improving classroom participation as well as communication skills AAC intervention should be started as early as possible as part of best performance of the children with CP with complex communication needs.

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