Research
Research in this theme explores the ways in which interpersonal interaction is conducted between children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and their communication partners. Drawing on the principles and practices of conversation analysis, this theme addresses questions such as:
How are conversations organized when one or more participants uses a speech generating device? How do children who use AAC and their adult conversation partners work towards achieving shared meaning? How are multimodal resources deployed in these interactions? What problems do children using AAC and their communication partners experience in everyday interactions? How might conversational participants adapt their interactions in ways that are mutually beneficial?
Related Publications
Ibrahim, S., Clarke, M.T., Vasalou, A., & Bezemer, J. (2023). Common ground in AAC: How children who use AAC and teaching staff shape interaction in the multimodal classroom. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1-12.
Cooper, B., Soto, G. & Clarke, M.T. (2022) Prompting for Repair as a Language Teaching Strategy for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1-10.
Soto, G., Clarke, M.T., Nelson, K., Starowicz, R., & Savaldi-Harussi, G. (2020). Recast type, repair, and acquisition in AAC mediated interaction. Journal of Child Language, 1-15.
Clarke, M.T. (2016) Co-construction, asymmetry and multimodality in children’s conversations. In Smith, M. & Murray, J. (Eds.). The silent partner? Language learning and language use in aided communication. London: J&R Press.
Clarke, M.T., Wilkinson, R. (2013) Communicative competence in children’s peer interaction. In Norén, N., Samuelsson, C., Plejert, C. (Eds.). Aided Communication in Dialogical Perspectives. Augmentative and Alternative Communication as Action and Participation within Embodied Social Worlds London: J&R Press.
Clarke, M.T., Bloch, S., & Wilkinson, R. (2012). Speaker transfer in children’s peer conversation: Completing communication aid mediated contributions. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 37-53.
Clarke, M.T., Newton, C., Petrides, K.V., Griffiths, T., Lysley, A. & Price, K. (2012) An Examination of Relations Between Participation, Communication and Age in Children with Complex Communication Needs. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 44-51.
Bloch, S. & Clarke, M.T. (2012) Handwriting-in-interaction between people with ALS/MND and their conversation partners. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 59-67.
Price, K., Clarke, M.T. (2011) Developing total communication systems for children with oro-motor disorders. In Roig-quilis, M., Pennington, L. (Eds.). Oro-Motor Disorders in Childhood. Barcelona: Viguera.
Wilkinson, R., Bloch, S., Clarke, M.T. (2011) On the use of graphic resources by people with communication disorders. In Streek, J., Goodwin, C., Lebaron, C. (Eds.). Embodied Interaction: Language and Body in the Material World. Cambridge University Press.
Clarke, M.T., Newton, C., Cherguit, J., Donlan, C. & Wright, J. (2011) Short-term outcomes of communication aid provision. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 169-180 Received editor’s award for most significant student article of 2011.
Clarke, M.T., Newton, C., Griffiths, T., Price, K., Lysley, A. & Petrides, K. V. (2011) Factors associated with the participation of children with complex communication needs. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 774-780.
Clarke, M.T., Wilkinson, R. (2010) Communication aid use in children's conversation: Time, timing and speaker transfer. In Gardner, H., Forrester, M. (Eds.). Analysing interaction in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis. London: Wiley.
Clarke, M.T. & Wilkinson, R. (2009) The collaborative construction of non-serious episodes of interaction by non-speaking children with cerebral palsy and their peers. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 583-597.
Clarke, M.T. & Wilkinson, R. (2008) Interaction between children with cerebral palsy and their peers 2: Understanding initiated VOCA mediated turns. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 3-15 Received editor’s award for most significant student article of 2008 (for research conducted under PhD supervision).
Clarke, M.T. & Wilkinson, R. (2007) Interaction between children with cerebral palsy and their peers 1: Organising and understanding VOCA use. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 336-348.
Clarke, M.T. & Kirton, A. (2003) Patterns of interaction between children with physical disabilities using augmentative and alternative communication and their peers. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 135 - 151.
Clarke, M.T., McConachie, H.R., Price, K. & Wood, P. (2001) Views of young people using augmentative and alternative communication systems, International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 107-115.
Language is a powerful tool for self-expression and self-advocacy. Children learn language through their everyday interactions with parents, carers, teachers and peers, and the trajectory of language learning in typical circumstances has been well documented. Language learning by children who use graphic symbol-based speech generating devices (SGDs) as their primary mode of communication is not well-understood. Such children learn language in contexts and within interactions that are different from children not using SGDs, often with limited SLP support. This theme of research explores ways to support conversational interaction-based language learning and to examine trajectories of language learning by children using SGDs.
Related Publications
Durston, L., Clarke, M.T. & Soto, G. (In Press) What Relationships Exist Between Nouns and Verbs and the Use of Prepositions, Adverbs, and Adjectives in Children and Adolescents who Use Speech Generating Devices? Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Soto, G., Clarke, M. T., & Harussi-Salvaldi, G. (2023). Relationship between lexicon and grammar in children and youth who use augmentative and alternative communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1-9.
Cooper, B., Soto, G. & Clarke, M.T. (2022) Prompting for Repair as a Language Teaching Strategy for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1-10.
Luckins, J. M., & Clarke, M. T. (2021). Can Conversation-Based Intervention Using Speech-Generating Devices Improve Language in Children With Partially Intelligible Speech?. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 131-144.
Soto, G., Clarke, M.T., Nelson, K., Starowicz, R., & Savaldi-Harussi, G. (2020). Recast type, repair, and acquisition in AAC mediated interaction. Journal of Child Language, 1-15.
Zerbeto, A. B., Soto, G., Chun, R. Y. S., Zanolli, M. D. L., Rezende, A. C. F. A., & Clarke, M.T. (2020). Use and implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health with Children and Youth within the context of Augmentative and Alternative Communication: an integrative literature review. Revista CEFAC, 22.
Soto, G., Clarke, M.T., Nelson, K., Starowicz, R., & Savaldi-Harussi, G. (2020). Re=cast type, repair, and acquisition in AAC mediated interaction. Journal of Child Language, 1-15.
Soto, G., & Clarke, M. T. (2018). Conversation-based intervention for adolescents using AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 180-193.
For nonspeaking children with physical disabilities controlled looking behaviors, such as gaze fixations and gaze shifts, can be a vital component of expressive communication. For example, by shifting gaze between an object and a partner, a child might draw a partner’s attention to the object to make a comment about it. Controlled use of gaze fixations and gaze shifts is also a key skill set supporting the use of AAC tools (e.g. looking at an array of graphic symbols on a communication chart). Controlled gaze fixations and gaze shifts are also one element of a set skills that underpin effective use of gaze-control technologies.
Clinical experience suggests that there is often poor agreement between clinicians concerning how children use their vision functionally. This research theme aims to develop practical tools and strategies to support families and clinicians to better understand and support children’s functional use of vision for communication and access to AAC.
Related Publications
Sargent, J., Griffiths, T., Clarke, M.T., Bates, K., Macleod, K. & Swettenham, J. (In Press) The Functional Vision for Communication Questionnaire (FVC-Q): Exploring parental report of non-speaking children’s fixation skills using a structured history-taking approach. Developmental Neurorehabilitation
Griffiths, T., Clarke, M. T., & Swettenham, J. (2023). The ability of typically developing 2–3 year olds to infer the control mechanism for eye-gaze technology and the impact of causal language instruction. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 1-8.
Karlsson, P., Griffiths, T., Clarke, M. T., Monbaliu, E., Himmelmann, K., Bekteshi, S., ... & Wallen, M. (2021). Stakeholder consensus for decision making in eye-gaze control technology for children, adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy service provision: findings from a Delphi study. BMC Neurology, 1-24.
Clarke, M. T., Sargent, J., Cooper, R., Aberbach, G., McLaughlin, L., Panesar, G., ... & Swettenham, J. (2020). Development and testing of the eye-pointing classification scale for children with cerebral palsy. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-6.
Sargent, J, Clarke, M.T., Price, K., Griffiths, T., & Swettenham, J. (2013). Eye-pointing in children with severe cerebral palsy: What are we looking at? International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 477-485.
Rapid advances in technology have the potential to radically alter the ways in which AAC technologies are designed and used. This research theme explores how the design of AAC systems and tools can be informed by: (i) understanding of children's and families’ values and preferences, (ii) knowledge of the ways in which human interactions are accomplished dynamically and incrementally, and (iii) advances in artificial intelligence.
Related Publications
Vasalou, A., Ibrahim, S., Clarke, M.T. & Griffiths, Y. (2021). On power and participation: Reflections from design with developmentally diverse children. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 27, 100241.
Ibrahim, S., Vasalou, A., & Clarke, M.T. (2020). Can Design Documentaries Disrupt Design for Disability? Proceeding of the ACM Interaction Design and Children (IDC) conference, 96-107.
Ibrahim, S., Vasalou, A., Benton, L., & Clarke, M.T. (2021). A methodological reflection on investigating children’s voice in qualitative research involving children with severe speech and physical impairments. Disability & Society, 1-26.
Ibrahim, S., Vasalou, A., & Clarke, M.T (2018). Design opportunities for AAC and children with severe speech and physical impairments. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).