Communication Research
REKNEW projects
REKNEW projects research ways Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) can support children and adults with acquired or developmental disabilities as they experience complex communication impairments.
BCI-FIT: Brain-Computer Interface-Functional Implementation Toolkit
The REKNEW lab, under the leadership of Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken, partners with Northeastern University, Michigan Technological University, and the University of Washington to develop and evaluate a new communication system known as a brain-computer interface for persons with minimal movement and speech. The system uses brain signals to select rapidly displayed letters for message construction in people who are locked in. The BCI-FIT partners have formed the Consortium for Accessible Multimodal Brain-Body Interfaces, called CAMBI. They are currently testing the BCI communication system in the homes of people with severe speech and physical impairments.
The AAC Peer Support Project
The UCEDD, along with CommunicationFIRST, is developing a set of recommendations for Peer Support models for people who need or use AAC. The project includes AAC users, disability organizations, researchers, clinicians, self-advocates and family members who form a Consortium. Members of the Consortium meet weekly (1) to identify current peer support models within and outside of the field of AAC; (2) to define what success looks like for AAC users; (3) to identify how to ensure that diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility are considered with each AAC peer support model; and (4) to describe the literature and products that have been presented already in this area.
Classroom AAC: developing an augmentative and alternative communication intervention for preschoolers with severe disabilities
The goal of this four-year research program will be to develop an AAC intervention for preschool children ages three to six with complex communication needs which can be easily implemented by teachers and speech-language pathologists during typical classroom activities.
Delivering enhanced milieu teaching to children with down syndrome via telepractice
This project examines whether delivering enhanced milieu teaching through a hybrid in-person and telepractice model increases caregiver language strategy use and rate of child communication.
Delivering early language intervention to young children and their families in rural communities
This project examines whether delivering an early intervention through a hybrid in-person and telehealth model increases caregiver language strategy use and rate of child communication, for families and their children living in rural communities.