AAC Tech and Autism: A recap of Mark Surabian’s talk

Our first NYC Designing for Autism Meetup

Last month, we held a fantastic session at the NYU Ability Lab where Mark Surabian came to talk to us about Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology for the autistic community. Mark is the definition of an expert in this field: he has had 30 years of experience advising individuals with a range of disabilities on using the right assistive technologies. He’s seen every possible AAC application that has come on to the market, and even worked on a few of them himself. We were extremely lucky to get to spend an evening with such a dynamic and knowledgeable speaker.

The talk was highly-informative: every member of the audience had their notebooks/phones out and was furiously taking notes throughout. In a comprehensive survey on the topic, Mark talked about the communication needs of his autistic clients, the state of AAC technology, the considerations behind the designs of a few examples, the market for such apps, and many other topics. Out of the myriad of insights, here are some highlights:

1. The inherent characteristics of technology make it very useful for autistic individuals. Technology is stable. It is predictable. It has a set structure. These are all characteristics that are appealing to an autistic individual, for whom the surrounding environment is often overwhelming because of its dynamism and unpredictability. Software for autistic individuals should harness these inherent appealing characteristics of technology to create user engagement.
2. A key factor here is communication speed: can we help autistic individuals communicate as quickly as we’ve become accustomed to in public? It currently takes an AAC tech user a good amount of time to construct even the simplest sentences. A key aim of AAC apps is reducing that time: raising the speed of communication for autistic users. This manifests itself in features such as shortcuts, saved common phrases, and the positioning of related concepts next to one another on the grid. But AAC communication is still slow, and still generates frustration in both the AAC communicator and the individuals receiving the communication. More innovation is needed to raise this speed, or at least create parity between the AAC tech user and the other conversation participants. A related thought experiment: what if it was the other conversation participants that we slowed down, instead of speeding up the communication speed of the AAC tech user?
3. Platform interoperability sucks. Sure, AAC tech is useful right now for in-person communication. But today, communication happens across distance through channels such as texting, or social media. It is currently possible to integrate AAC apps to send messages to these channels, but we run into an issue in the opposite direction. Responses from the other communication channels cannot currently be received and interpreted by AAC tech, creating a frustrating situation of one-way communication.
4. Effective implementation of the tools is just as, or may be even more important, than the design of the tools. What we’ve learnt recently about education is that strong-arming a child into a rigid set of behaviors is a suboptimal approach. How might we move away from the perception of “training” an autistic individual to use a specific tool? Just like educators need to balance between dictating knowledge and behavior and allowing the student to express themselves, how might we get autistic individuals comfortable with their AAC tools with the right balance of instruction and exploration?
5. How do we create the incentives for AAC developers to improve their products, and for good new apps to stay in the market? The AAC market is currently dominated by a few big players. New innovative tools do emerge, but the companies behind them end up succumbing to financial pressures which may mean they shut down and leave their current users without support. How do we prevent this from happening? Sometimes a low-tech method of communication may be preferable because it is more stable than a startup that pulls support for their technology.
6. Parents are under great duress trying to pick the right tools for their autistic children. This is especially so in the self-directed approach where the parents take on the role of planning for their child’s support, instead of enlisting the services of counsellors. While parents may have a better understanding of their child’s personality and preferences, this approach may have them feeling under-supported and in need of guidance.
7. Video can be a compelling medium for some autistic individuals. Videos can help autistics familiarize themselves with new behaviors and surroundings. Videos can also be a great way for autistic individuals to express themselves and communicate.

We’re really glad we had Mark come speak to us. While the focus was AAC tech, it is easy to see how these insights above can influence our designs for other solutions, tech and non-tech, for the autistic community. Can we use the video medium for more than just communication? Can we create parity of communication speed in other settings beyond communication apps? Mark’s talk is the first of many events we hope to put together for the NYC community to begin thinking about these questions.

Mark with the team: Kohzy, Dave, and Ariele