Aging Up AAC: An Introspection on Augmentative and Alternative Communication Applications for Autistic Adults

TL;DR

This paper explores the needs and challenges of autistic adults using AAC tools, highlighting user perspectives and suggesting future research directions for more inclusive AAC technology development.

Contribution

It provides in-depth qualitative insights from autistic adults on AAC use, identifying key pain points and areas for technological improvement.

Findings

Eight categories of themes from interviews identified

User perspectives reveal gaps in current AAC tools

Suggestions for future research directions

Abstract

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.