AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

online social media on communication experiences from the perspective of people
who use AAC.
2.3 Part Two: Historical development of AAC
2.3.1. Introduction
This section considers the technological development of AAC within the broader
mainstream development of communication technology to conceptualise the research
interest to look at the use of the internet and online social media by people who use
AAC. DeRuyter et al. (2007) state the ‘digital revolution’ over the last twenty years
within mainstream technology and the development of wireless connectivity is going
to have far reaching consequences for people who use AAC.
2.3.2. Historical context
The AAC-RERC (2011) white paper describes how the roots of AAC developed from
the desire to help people with complex communication needs to express themselves.
Hourcade, Pilotte, West and Parette (2004) describe how intervention evolved within
the speech and language therapy profession during the 1970s with an initial focus on
an ‘unaided’ approach using gesture and sign language to support the development of
speech. Disadvantages remained for those whose motor abilities prevented accurate
sign production and the limitation of other people’s knowledge of sign language.
Vanderheiden (2002) explains how three distinct threads helped form the basis for the
field of AAC during the 1970s: early electromechanical communication and writing
systems, research into the development of language and work to develop
communication and language boards. He describes a major step in the field of
communication boards occurred in 1971 when a Canadian group led by a teacher
called Shirley McNaughton started to use the Bliss symbol system developed by
Charles Bliss to help children to communicate. The early pioneering work within
these threads then combined with the work being done with sign language and the
field of AAC began to take shape. The formation of the International Society of
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) marked the beginning of a
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