Symbolic communication is a paramount achievement in human development. The ability to use symbols such as words, signs or printed symbols enables one to communicate with other people about events and ideas outside the immediate surroundings. The sequence of events that most children so effortlessly navigate en route to symbolic language is well documented. However, understanding the underlying processes that facilitate or enable one to substitute a symbol for it’s referent during communication is not well understood, particularly in nonspeaking children with developmental disabilities. Although progress is being made toward understanding neurological developments that surround early language development, clear and complete descriptions of early successful and unsuccessful symbol acquisition in social contexts is critical in order to lay a strong and complementary behavioral foundation for further research as well as guide interventions.  Currently, there is no empirical evidence available to guide prescriptive intervention planning for these children based on their different needs. The success or failure of an intervention such as AAC depends not only on the application of the intervention, but also on child and environmental variables that are potential predictors of response to these interventions.  The aims of the proposed research are to determine how specific child and environmental variables contribute to communication outcomes by accumulating the largest longitudinal data set to date derived from young children with developmental disabilities learning AAC, and analyzing this data within the framework of our innovative model of symbolic communication development. 

Specific Aims: