A REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPEECH-GENERATING DEVICES TO STIMULATE COMMUNICATION IN PEOPLE WITH AUTISM

It is estimated that about 30% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain minimally verbal, which means that each of these children makes very limited use of spoken language, particularly for communication purposes. The absence of verbal communication often leads to an increase in behavioral problems.

Over the years in the field of verbal rehabilitation techniques of Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) have been developed, the most used in this area are PECS Systems (Picture Exchange Communication Systems), the PECS system is most commonly used in autism, it is a low-tech systems whose goal is to teach functional communication through strategies that exploit support and reinforcement mechanisms of verbal behavior. PECS have for years been one of the most effective tools for helping individuals with ASD to communicate spontaneously with other people and to make specific requests. Furthermore, scientific studies have shown that the use of a PECS system reduces the presence of behavioral problems, especially manifestations of self or hetero aggressiveness, so today every child with autism and non-verbal always uses a form of alternative communication.The daily use of new technologies in different life contexts has encouraged the development of high-tech systems to support individuals with ASDs such as VOCAs (Voice Output Communication Aids), or SGD (Speech Generative Devices), they are electronic and transportable devices that produce a speech output, which has been previously registered or based on synthesized language. In recent years the symbolic system of PECS pictograms has been combined with speech synthesis devices with the aim of increasing the maintenance of the attention of children with autism and the experts have developed the idea that the SGDs are intrinsically motivating, therefore allow a rapid and effective acquisition of communication skills.

Some studies have focused on the comparison between the traditional method of PECS and that of high-tech instruments such as those of SGDs to support the communication of individuals with ASD. The aim of this study is to understand whether the results of the latest research confirm that SGDs are as effective as PECS in stimulating spontaneous and reciprocal communication, bringing together the results of comparative research between PECS and the most recent SGD in a global systematic review.

The results showed that the SGDs are equally effective in stimulating the communication of children with ASD; some studies have shown that there is often a preference for children in choosing SGDs over PECS. The objective of our review is to encourage the continuation of scientific research on the experimentation of these tools and the evaluation of their effectiveness in the context of intervention, as well as laying the foundations for the creation of a specific methodology for teaching the alternative augmentative communication through the use of DGS.