Impact of the MODELER AAC strategy for secondary students with CCN

This single-case non-concurrent multiple baseline design intervention study targeted four young adults in public high school with complex communication needs who lacked augmentative and alternative communication using the Model, Encourage, Respond (MODELER) partner instructional strategy. The intervention included coaching paraprofessionals to model AAC as they spoke using various AAC apps running on an Apple iPad, provide time delay, and respond to student communication attempts modeling AAC. In response to training and coaching, the paraprofessionals all made large instructional gains. Three out of the four young adults with complex communication needs demonstrated large increases in communication turns in response to intervention. This study demonstrated that paraprofessionals who had previously received little AAC intervention training could be coached by a special educator to provide impactful interventions in just a few sessions. These findings must be interpreted as preliminary due to the level of the experimental design.