AAC & Autism:
Teaching Communication
Through Motor Planning
Thank you…
Michigan Integrated Technology Supports
The Mission of LAMP
To improve public awareness of the unique qualities of the
power of AAC to change the lives of non-verbal
individuals with autism and other developmental
disabilities by:
– Providing specialized clinical training to health care
professionals, teachers, and parents
– Supporting Clinical Research
– Supporting clients and families with education,
resources and information
By the end of this session you
will be able to:
1. Briefly describe the five key elements of LAMP
2. Identify the relationship between motor planning
and communication using AAC
3. Identify the benefits of using core words to teach
communication using AAC
What is LAMP?
Language Acquisition Through Motor
Planning
A therapeutic approach
What is LAMP?
Language Acquisition Through Motor
Planning
A therapeutic approach
Built on principles of motor-learning
A Case for Motor
Consistency
"In the practiced automatic movements of daily life
attention is directed to the sense impression and
not to the movement. So, in piano playing, the
beginner may attend to his fingers but the
practiced player attends only to the notes or to
the melody. In speaking, writing and reading
aloud, and in games and manual work, attention
is always directed to the goal, never to the
movement.
Cattell, J.M.
1893
Ming, Brimacombe, Wagner
2007
154 Children with ASD found that 41% of 2–6 year
olds and 27% 7-18 year olds showed clear
evidence of oral motor and/or hand muscle
apraxia
Mirenda, P. (2008) A back door approach to autism and AAC; Augmentative and
Alternative Communication, 24, 220-234
Motor Planning Indicators
and ASD
High prevalence of motor planning
difficulties in ASD
 Speech
requires high degree of motor
planning
 Automaticity facilitates motor action
We can take advantage of motor planning
when:
• Each word has its own motor pattern due
to consistent icon locations
• Motor patterns don’t change
• Patterns build upon themselves as
language grows
We cannot take advantage of Motor Planning
when:
– Significant navigation of the system is required
– Requires continuous visual refocus and visual
reorientation
– Large bank of icons to learn
– Same motor plan has different language outcome
– Too many or inconsistent rules for generating
language
What is LAMP?
Language Acquisition Through Motor
Planning
A therapeutic approach
Built on principles of motor-learning
Emphasizes independent access across
environments
Communication Goal
Same as for all AAC users…
S: Spontaneous
N: Novel
U: Utterance
G: Generation
i.e. expressive, generative communication
What is LAMP?
Language Acquisition Through Motor
Planning
A therapeutic approach
Built on principles of motor-learning
Emphasizes independent access across
environments
Multi-sensory
LAMP approach
Zone of Optimal Arousal
Performance
The Inverted U-Principle
Good
Poor
Low
Moderate
Arousal Level
(Duffy, 1962)
High
Considerations for Treatment
– Enhance or minimize sensory input
– Manipulate sensory input to maintain a “zone of
optimal arousal:
• Client must be able to orient, discriminate,
attend, explore, interact, and learn
• Match activity to level of arousal
• Incorporate sensory strategies throughout the
day to help maintain appropriate
arousal level
LAMP approach
Child-Focused
As suggested by Stanley Greenspan, enter the
child's activities and follow the child's lead. If the
child wants to line up cars in a row or twirl a top,
the parents will join the child in his or her
preferred activity (with the intent of developing
this action into an affective interaction) rather
than demanding that the child join them in their
preferred activity (a process which, at best, will
produce no more than rote action and reaction).
From Autism National Committee http://www.autcom.org/behaviorism.html
Follow the child’s lead: Watch for what
interests the child and use that interest to
create a meaningful language learning
experience.
Join in with the child: Shared focus
develops through interaction.
Surprising and Novel
Purposeful and Intentional
Use Movement
LAMP approach
LAMP
LAW…
LAMP LAW…
Initiating a unique motor plan
Hearing the word produced by that
movement
Experiencing another’s reaction to the
word
Things to remember:
 Device
Position
And…
Random Selection and
Perseveration
When using AAC,
teach location, NOT metaphor
Why??
Stable key location enables
the development of automaticity
Each consistent pattern of one, two or
three hits on the AAC device must
always result in production of a
unique word.
Automaticity
Automaticity
• EMG brain : new vs. automatic tasks
• Repeated movements become subcortical
• Cortical areas can then be put to “better use”
Avoid temptation to “check
comprehension” by shifting locations
of pictures
because …?
LAMP approach
The auditory output stimulates the
child’s auditory system, providing
auditory feedback with the motor
response, …
… which may later stimulate the
child’s natural attempts to imitate the
auditory output he/she gets from the
AAC device and the auditory feedback
from his/her communication partner.
Auditory Signals
“Input from the vestibular, proprioceptive, and
auditory systems is critical for the development
of speech and language (1989, Windeck &
Laurel)
Children need to experience words, not just
repeat them
In LAMP each unique motor pattern = specific
auditory signal……a specific word
SGD provides critical auditory
information
LAMP approach
Any attempts to communicate
should have natural
auditory/verbal, visual, and
social consequences.
Social Exchange
No Mistakes:
No matter what the child selects on the AAC
device, the rule for the communication partner is
RESPOND
RESPOND
RESPOND
LAMP Language Consideration: Single
Words
“Communication is based on the use of
the individual words of our
language. True communication is
spontaneous and novel. Therefore,
communication systems cannot be
based significantly on pre-stored
sentences. Communication requires
access to a vocabulary of individual
words suitable to our needs that are
multiple and subject to change. These
words must be selected to form the
sentences that we wish to say.”
ASHA’s AAC
Focus on
“core”
vocabulary
Words
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
Percentage
I
No
Yes/yea
my
the
want
is
it
that
a
go
mine
you
what
on
in
here
more
out
off
some
help
all done/finished
9.5
8.5
7.6
5.8
5.2
5.0
4.9
4.9
4.9
4.6
4.4
3.8
3.2
3.1
2.8
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.1
1.0
96.3%
Toddler
Vocabulary
Arranged by
Frequency
These 26 core
words comprise
96.3 percent of the
total words used by
toddlers in this
study
Banajee,M., DiCarlo, C, & Buras-Stricklin, S.
(2003). Core Vocabulary Determination for
Toddlers, Augmentative and Alternative
Communication, 2, 67-73.
First
30
Words
1. again
2. all done
3. all gone
4. away
5. big
6. go
7. help
8. here
9. I
10. it
11. like
21. do
12. mine
22. down
13. more
23. get
14. not/don’t 24. in
15. stop
25. little
16. that
26. off
17. want
27. on
18. what
28. put
19. you
29. some
20. my
30. out
©Van Tatenhove, 2005, Revised October 2007
Michael Brian Reed (2009)
 Is “campaigning for people with
communication impairments to be given a
way to say the same 100-400 words that
speaking people say most each day…”
 Questions for, teachers, SLPs, decision
makers and makers of communication aids:
1. What is your plan to introduce core vocabulary
to students with communication disabilities?
2. Can teachers and SLPs be sure that during
preschool years specific core vocabulary and all
language functions be introduced.
3. Can teachers and SLPs be sure that students
have access to core vocabulary in education?
The “Core” of
Language Representation
Picture producing words RARELY
provide communication power
 Early vocabulary samples have very few,
if any, picture producing words
 Any representation method requires
learning
 DO NOT create the AAC displays based
upon what can be easily represented

Word List
I
Stop
Go
Not
Eat
Drink
More
Vocabulary Expansion
– Pronouns: I, you, it: “I go; You stop. More
it”
– Colors: “Get red; Need blue.”
– Foods: “Eat soup.”
– Toys: “More bubbles; Need truck”
– Drinks: “Drink juice; Want water.”
– Adjectives: “Good work;” “Not bad.”
Opportunities for Communication
 Unexpected in the expected
 Fulfilling Needs
Rapid
Generalization
Core words have many meanings
Back
Up
Meanings of these words are continually revised
by children as they are used in different
contexts.
To match or harmonize
To come into a condition:
The shirt goes with the
pants.
Time to go to sleep.
To function:
To make a sound:
The engine is going.
The dog goes “bow wow”.
To circulate:
To fit:
The rumor goes
around the school.
The belt won’t go around
my waist.
go
turn
Bend or change the
course:
Move around an axis or a
center:
To affect or alter
function:
To reverse the sides or
surfaces :
Other ideas?
Don’t over-train in one activity
Look for social exchange
Move quickly to next level; may be next
word, may be combined words, may be
next level (sequenced)
May not need to “train” each word
References
•
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•
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•
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American Speech-Language Hearing Association (2009). Augmentative Communication: A
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Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 19(2), 67.
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References, cont.
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www.aacandautism.com
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