A diagnostic tool for the identification of noise in Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A case study about adults with Complex Communication Needs

Approximately 1.5% of individuals in western countries have Complex Communication Needs, meaning that they lack the spoken word skills needed for their daily communication. Therapeutic methods, called Augmentative and Alternative Communication, exist to help these people, but the use of such techniques is typically problematic. The identification of where communication breakdowns occur is one of the major challenges within this unique environment. Having a tool that allows users to identify these breakdowns could provide a means to address this issue. This thesis presents literature and empirical research that investigates these challenges, and a prototype tool intended to identify communication breakdowns.