Impact of Speech Generating Device Interventions on Vocalizations of Individuals with Autism and Severe Communication Impairment: A Systematic Review of the Research

This systematic review evaluated the effect of speech interventions with the addition of speech generating devices on vocalizations of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and complex communication needs. This review synthesized information across 18 studies published in the past three decades with the primary focus on the facilitative effect of SGDs on the speech production of individuals with ASD, and further highlighted the role of SGDs on the development of natural speech when combined with appropriate intervention strategies. These studies involved a total of 108 participants aged 3 to 13 and were thoroughly coded according to participant demographics, design, pre-and post-speech measure, intervention strategy, methodological rigor, and type of verbal operant. SGD-infused interventions combined with evidence-based practices can lead to increases in children's expressive language and social communication utterances. Despite the promising outcomes, optimal outcomes are associated with some of the participants’ prelinguistic predictors as measured before the interventions.