A Case Study On Using AAC To Improve Peer Communication Of A Low Verbal Student With Mental Retardation In Regular School

Communication is an important way of communication between people.Communication is very important in everyone’s daily life,and it is also a significant way for expressing their basic needs,exchanging information,establishing a sense of social intimacy and social etiquette,participating in social activities.For most students with mental retardation,the lack of communication will affect their communication with their peers,hinders their participation in school activities,reduces their willingness to communicate,and even brings a series of problem behaviors.A child with low spoken language is taken as the research object.This study intends to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication(AAC)teaching program to intervene peer communication during the break of the case in the school,and to explore its effectiveness.The specific research includes two stages:In the first stage,mainly through AAC’s vocabulary and sentence construction,the case’s language and communication expression has improved,specifically through the AAC teaching to improve vocabulary matching,identification,press the layout ability of the case.When his vocabulary learning achieves the desired goal,then enters the sentence learning.At this time,the case will use the vocabulary he learned to construct sentences,and use the sentences in activities,when sentence learning achieve the desired goal,the case will enter the next stage of learning.The study of vocabulary and sentence structure will adopt the research method of single subject,collect data from all aspects of the research stage through the scale,and use qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the research.When the case is proficient in vocabulary and sentence construction,and skillfully uses AAC to communicate in the individual training room,it enters the second stage.In this stage,observation method is mainly used,so that the case can transfer the learned content to the recess activities,understand the situation of peer communication in this situation.The teacher will revise the communication layout according to the deficiencies,and record with the scale.Finally the social validity of this study was tested through the structured and unstructured interviews with parents,teachers and peers.Through two stages of research,the overall conclusions are as bellows:(1)AAC teaching has immediate and sustained effect on improving the number of functional words and sentence construction ability.(2)AAC teaching has a good effect on the improvement of peer communication in the daily life.The specific performance is that the number of communication and interaction between the case and the peer is significantly increased,and the initiative is enhanced;the forms of communication and interaction are more diverse,and the case can use communication pen + oral,oral,gesture and other forms to communicate and express;the quality of communication and the ability to use good social etiquette are greatly improved promote.(3)AAC teaching has good social validity.Finally,according to the implementation and effect of AAC teaching,the researcher puts forward some discussions and suggestions.(1)For child with low spoken language,the value of AAC intervention is not only to improve their communication skills,but also to improve their reading and writing skills,so as to enhance the future academic achievement of the case;(2)In the integrated education environment,the development of AAC teaching plan for children with low spoken language needs a comprehensive evaluation of the child,and the teaching plan should also be designed according to the situation and needs of the case;(3)The implementation of AAC teaching should pay attention to the situation,effectiveness and transfer of the process;(4)AAC teaching has immediate and sustained effect on peer communication of the child,and it also improves the problem behavior and peer relationship of the child;(5)The research and practice of AAC in integrated schools have more requirements for school administrators’ support and teachers’ professional quality.Suggestions for the research results and discussion are put forward:First of all,in the integrated education environment,the formulation of AAC teaching plan needs to consider the four elements about people,activities,situations and assistive devices;Second,people are constantly developing and changing,so the teaching methods and teaching contents of AAC are adjusted in time.When teaching the case,it must pays attention to the situation,effectiveness and migration.In addition,AAC can not only improve the communication ability of the case,but also have an impact on other fields.Finally,the development of integrated education,positive campus atmosphere,the support of managers and the professionalism of teachers are essential.