The Effect of AAC Display Types on Message Production and Its Relationship with Reading Ability in Patients with Cognitive-Communication Disorders

Objectives: To provide empirical evidence that can be applied in medical settings, this study aimed to examine the effects of AAC display types on message production ability in patients with cognitive-communication disorders who are hospitalized and the correlation with the patients’ reading abilities.Methods: Twenty patients with cerebral vascular accidents who were diagnosed with cognitive-communication disorders participated in this study. Message production abilities were examined by measuring accuracy scores and response times under three AAC display conditions: (1) text-based visual scene display (VSD), (2) mixed type (text and graphic symbol-based) of VSD, and (3) graphic symbol-based GRID.Results: The graphic symbol-based GRID showed significantly high accuracy scores and short response time compared to the text-based VSD. There was no significant difference between the graphic symbol-based GRID and the mixed type of VSD in terms of accuracy scores and response time. In addition, significant correlations between the VSD type of display and the reading task scores were found.Conclusion: This study showed that the VSD types of AAC display do not enhance the communication efficacy more than the graphic symbol-based GRID in medical settings. It is at odds with a previous study that claims the effectiveness of text-based VSD without considering patients’ reading ability. These results suggest that rather than perceiving VSD itself to be more effective than other display types, it is important to provide individual graphic symbols so that reading impaired patients can understand the meaning of each message.