Building Sentences With Preschoolers Who Use AAC

Phase 2

Completed

• Conditions: Down Syndrome; Speech and Language Disorder; Speech Disorders in Children; Speech Sound Disorder; Speech Intelligibility
• Interventions: Behavioral: AAC Generative Language Intervention; Behavioral: Standard of Care / Business as Usual

• Registration Number: NCT03538925
• Lead Sponsor: University of Central Florida

Brief Summary

The focus of this investigation is to compare the effectiveness of the AAC Generative Language Intervention approach to an AAC Standard of Care condition on preschool sentence productions. All children will use existing AAC iPad applications.

Detailed Description

The central hypothesis is that preschoolers receiving AAC Generative Language Intervention will create longer, more grammatically complete sentences compared with the Standard of Care condition. Specific Aim 1 compares these interventions for preschoolers with severe speech impairments and typical receptive language, and Specific Aim 2 does the same for children with Down syndrome. Specific Aim 3 tests for possible moderation of the intervention effect by age, dynamic assessment scores, sentence type, receptive language abilities, prior AAC use, sex, mental age, and disability. Aims 1 and 2 will be accomplished using randomized controlled trials.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2018-05-11
• Study First Submitted: 2018-05-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-05-25
• Study First Posted: 2018-05-29
• Primary Completion: 2023-06-30
• Study Completion: 2023-12-31
• Status Verified: 2024-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-01-04
• Last Update Posted: 2024-01-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 70

Inclusion Criteria

• Clinical Identification of Significant Speech Impairment
• Must Speak English as a Primary Language
• Must Be Able to Express At Least 25 Words (using any communication mode)
• Must Be Able to Accurately Select Picture Symbols on iPad Communication App with at Least 50% Accuracy
• Vision and Hearing within Functional Limits or Corrected to be within Functional Limits for Study Activities

Exclusion Criteria

• Clinical Diagnosis of Autism or Social Communication Disorder
• Primary Language Spoken is a Language Other than English

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Treatment Group	Standard of Care / Business as Usual	AAC Generative Language Intervention
Business as Usual	Standard of Care / Business as Usual	Standard of Care / Business as Usual
Treatment Group	AAC Generative Language Intervention	AAC Generative Language Intervention

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Aided AAC Utterance Length	6 Months	Aided AAC sentence length measured in morphemes

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

FAAST Center at the University of Central Florida; 🇺🇸 Orlando, Florida, United States

University of New Mexico Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences; 🇺🇸 Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States