Aging Up AAC: An Introspection on Augmentative and Alternative Communication Applications for Autistic Adults
This work addresses the problem of neglected user needs for autistic adults in AAC design, though it is incremental as it builds on prior work by highlighting novel findings from interviews.
The study investigated the lack of autistic adult perspectives in designing Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) tools, conducting interviews with 12 autistic adults to identify pain points and potential technological improvements, resulting in 8 thematic categories such as input flexibility and control of communication.
High-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) has been rapidly advancing in recent years due to the increased use of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, but many of these techniques are integrated without the inclusion of the users' perspectives. Autistic adults have been particularly neglected in the design of AAC tools. We conducted in-depth interviews with 12 autistic adults to find the pain points of current AAC and determine what technological advances they might find helpful. We found 8 different categories of themes from our interviews: input flexibility, output flexibility, selecting or adapting AAC, contexts for AAC use, benefits, access as an adult, stumbling blocks for continued use, and control of communication. In this paper, we go through these categories in depth -- comparing each to prior work -- and then highlight novel findings to suggest possible research directions.