Preliminary Investigation of Context-Aware AAC with Automated Just-in-Time Cloze Phrase Response Options for Social Participation from Children on the Autism Spectrum

Introduction: Social participation for emerging symbolic communicators on the autism spectrum is often restricted. This is due in part to the time and effort required for both children and partners to use traditional augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies during fast-paced social routines. Innovations in artificial intelligence provide the potential for context-aware AAC technology that can provide just-in-time (JIT) communication options based on linguistic input from partners to minimize the time and effort needed to use AAC technologies for social participation. Methods: This preliminary study used an alternating treatment design to compare the effects of a context-aware AAC prototype with automated cloze phrase response options to traditional AAC for supporting three young children who were emerging symbolic communicators on the autism spectrum in participating within a social routine. Results: Visual analysis and effect size estimates suggest the context-aware AAC condition resulted in increases in linguistic participation, vocal approximations, and visual attention for all three children. Conclusion: While this study was only an initial exploration and results are preliminary, context-aware AAC technologies have the potential to enhance participation and communication outcomes for young emerging symbolic communicators on the autism spectrum and more research is needed.