Literacy and AAC
Literacy outcomes for individuals
who use AAC

Of individuals who are are employed

Model
– Attempt to create a simplified representation of a
complex event or process

Models of reading
– Simplified representations of complex, coordinated
activities representing many different types of
knowledge and drawing upon many different skills
– Provide a framework for understanding reading
performance and reading instruction
Models of reading

Interactive
 Top down
– Whole language
 Bottom up
– Basic skills
– Sight word
Interactive

Reading is composed of multiple abilities
 Abilities
– Interact
– Influence
– Compensate for each other
Interactive (Adams, 1990)
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Orthographic Processor

Processing and identification of letters and
letter patterns
 Skilled readers rapidly recognize letters and
letter patterns
– Are “primed” to recognize letters that are
likely to be grouped together
Orthographic processing

Single letters
– Letter and letter patterns
• Q_
• Th_
The cat
Write System - Goodenough-Trepagnier et al,
1982
Most frequent letter, syllables/ngrams, and
words
Size
Keystroke saving
Write 100
44%
Write 200
57%
Write 400
66%
Do we need/look at every letter?

Ths shws tht wth n vwls, th txt cn stll be rd
 This shows that with no vowels, the text can
still be read

Tis dost that ex bome ilgi whe rnom eters e
remd
 This demonstrates that text becomes illegible
when random letters are removed
We see every letter (very
quickly!)

Consonants relatively consistent in their
sounds
 Vowels pull adjacent consonants into “tightly
associated activation patterns”
– Help us see syllables in words
– No hard and fast rules
• Par - tial, par-take
• Part-ly, pa-rade
–Depends on wide variety of factors
Orthographic Processing

Rapid ,automatic processing allows
– Rapid mapping of sounds to symbols when
learning to decode
• C-a-t
– Rapid mapping of sounds to symbols when words
are irregular (or even pseudowords)
- “prolavity, indection”
– Rapid visual recognition of common irregular
words
• Direct access from print to meaning
– Large sight word vocabularies
» McNaughton
Orthographic processing

Poor readers
– Have weak knowledge of spelling patterns
• “letter reversals”
–b, d, p
– Require effort to process letters and letter
patterns
• Decreased resources for other reading
activities
Orthographic Processing

Need to attend to spelling patterns over
multiple exposures
– Develop ability to rapidly and automatically
recognize letters and common letter
patterns
– Learn to attend to whole pattern, not one
letter at a time
• Process in syllables
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Phonological Processing


Detection and manipulation of the sound structures
of speech
Skilled readers
– Recognize sound patterns
– Are able to recognize and manipulate phonemes
Phonological Processing

Rapid automatic phonological processing
allows
– Rapid mapping of sounds to letters when
learning to decode words
– Rapid mapping of whole sound units to
letters, blends, and words
– “back-up” to orthographic system when a
word is not in “sight” vocabulary
Phonological Processing

Poor readers
– Degraded phonological codes stored in
memory
– Difficulty with auditory discrimination
– Operational deficiencies that slow the
process of of phonological codes
– Require more effort to decode words
Phonological Processing

To promote rapid automatic recognition of
sound patterns, teach learner to
– Attend to sound structure of words
– Demonstrate fluency in letter-sound
correspondence
– Use letter-sound correspondence to
decode words
– “words are made up of sounds, and
sounds can be represented by letters”
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Context processor

Vocabulary and background knowledge
Vocabulary

Cohen's kappa coefficient is a statistical
measure of inter-rater agreement. It is
generally thought to be a more robust
measure than simple percent agreement
calculation since kappa takes into account
the agreement occurring by chance. Cohen's
kappa measures the agreement between two
raters who each classify N items into C
mutually exclusive categories
Context

What you really want to use is detergent.
Detergent is a surfacting agent, which means it
breaks grease down into small particles, and
allows them to be washed out by water. The best
for our purposes is Dawn dishwashing liquid.
Nice pH, very similar composition to the much
more expensive detergents that you buy in
reputable dye stores. It's both very effective
and very gentle. It's what they use to wash
birds caught in oil slicks, so that tells you
that it can get rid of a bad mess, but also
that the fragile feathers are not stripped to
uselessness after treatment. Now the weird part
is that the flavor/color of Dawn matters some the original blue is the best.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Context processor

Vocabulary knowledge
– Matter of degrees
– Builds with new exposures
 World knowledge
Context processor

Skilled readers
– Have rapid automatic access to word meaning
– Extensive sight word vocabulary
– Use context to help with unfamiliar words
The event 1
The event 2
The event 3
Context processor

For normally developing readers
– First grade
• Approx 25,000 words
– College
• Approx 200,000 words
– School age children learn approx 7 new words per
day
Context processor

Poor readers
– More likely to have limited understanding
of a word
– Not understanding a word disrupts
comprehension
• Less likely to benefit from incidental
exposure
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Meaning Processor

Comprehension processes
– An active, effortful process of inferencing,
monitoring, and building a coherent
representation of text
Meaning Processor

Skilled readers
– Set goals for reading
– Have multiple strategies
• Monitor comprehension
– Know when to use strategies
Meaning Processor
– For normally developing readers
• Listening comprehension begins before
formal schooling
• Comprehension strategies are a part of
early text activities
–Become more sophisticated over time
Meaning Processor

Poor readers
– Do not engage in construction of meaning
• “piecemeal” processing of text
• Do not monitor comprehension
• Do not adjust strategies
– Devote too many resources to word recognition
– Lack knowledge of effective comprehension
strategies
Interactive
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Top down (“Whole Language)
Context processor
reading
speaking
writing
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Bottom up (Basic Skills)
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Bottom up (sight word)
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech
Sight words
poison
“Ant”
Postman 1
Postman 2
Literacy Demands of the
Educational Curriculum

Learning to read
– Gr k-3
 Reading to learn
– Gr 3 - 12
Gr 3
Gr 3
Gr 8
Gr 8
Gr 11
Gr 11
Interactive (Adams, 1990)
Context
Processor
Meaning
Processor
Orthographic
Processor
Print
Phonological
Processor
Speech