Alternative Communication Program for a Child with Cerebral Palsy and His Communication Partners: a Multiple-Probe Design Study

ABSTRACT Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for children with cerebral palsy is essential for their engagement in different contexts. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to verify the effects of a program of AAC for a non-verbal child with cerebral palsy in three different contexts of daily life: school, home and rehabilitation settings. This study used a Multiple-probe Experimental Design. The participants were a child with cerebral palsy and three communication partners in their respective settings: teacher, mother and occupational therapist. The intervention consisted of the individualized process of theoretical and practical training directed at the communication partners and implementation of the AAC. After implementation of the intervention program, the results showed that the child and the communication partners successfully used AAC resources. The results indicate that the strategies adopted in the three contexts were effective and provided to the child and his communication partners an understanding of how to use the AAC effectively.