One's Voice: A Central Component of Personal Factors in Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Abstract

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices have opened the gates to interaction for those with severe communication impairments. In the assessment and intervention, all components of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) should be addressed. However, an important Personal Factor to full integration has been largely ignored—that of one's voice. Each one of us has a unique voice that conveys our age, cultural background and personality—it's how people know and remember you. These affordances of the natural voice are not available to those who express themselves using AAC devices. A personalized digital voice brings the field of AAC to a closer realization of the social model of disability in which individuals are not defined by their disability and it is just one aspect of them. Access to a personalized voice uplifts the AAC user and provides an opportunity for social and emotional engagement that enhances quality of life.