EMERGENCE OF VISUAL-GRAPHIC SYMBOL COMBINATIONS BY YOUTH WITH MODERATE OR SEVERE MENTAL-RETARDATION

Research and practice on augmentative communication for persons with m oderate or severe mental retardation have primarily targeted the acqui sition and use of single symbols. Symbol combinations, however, provid e insight into how augmented communicators use individual symbols to b uild more complex communications. In Study 1, untaught symbol combinat ions produced during natural communication interactions by 7 subjects with mental retardation were examined for their semantic, ordering, an d generalization patterns. The symbol combinations largely resembled t hose produced by young speaking language learners, suggesting that the augmented communicators were following typical patterns of communicat ion in generating their symbol combinations. In Study 2, we examined t he symbol combinations modeled for subjects by their partners. The str ucture of the modeled combinations did not resemble the children's pro ductions, indicating that the children could not have relied on simple rote imitation for their combination production. These results sugges t that augmented communicators with mental retardation may use their s ymbols as speaking children use oral words in the development of compl ex communications.