engleski

Outcomes and Challenges of Collaboration between Social and Technical Professions in the Field of AAC

The rapidly growing field of information and communication technology and its availability have enabled the admission of smartphones and / or tablets into the homes of preschool and school-aged children. Children nowadays are growing up in multimedia environments from a young age and through play gain the ability to master basic functions on various devices at a very early age. Ten years ago, a team of researchers and experts working within the ICT-AAC Competence Network recognized the lacking amount of software solutions in the Croatian language and initiated numerous research activities (Rašan et al., 2019). The largest number of software solutions was created within the project “Competence network based on information and communication technologies for innovative services for people with complex communication needs (ICT-AAC project), which brought together four faculties of the University of Zagreb. The multidisciplinary approach has been challenging from the very beginning because it brings together researchers who use specific terminology and look at the development of software solutions from different perspectives. Thanks to the ICT-AAC Competence Network, to this day more than 50 applications have been developed for mobile devices with Android and iOS operating systems and for popular web browsers. The applications are free and available at the online stores Google Play and App Store and at the ICT- AAC website. The presentation will introduce the existing categories of ICT-AAC applications and their functionalities, focusing on those designed to promote the development of communication (Communicator, Communicator +, e- Gallery, Behavior) and their functionalities. At the same time, the Cboard application will be presented, an application allowing the display of communication boards that can contain an unlimited number of symbols and folders with symbols. The Cboard application was created within the framework of the project “Communication for every child: the usage of 21st century technology to promote communication, education and social inclusion of young children with disabilities. Its implementation was made possible by the UNICEF Office Croatia. In addition to introducing the applications, the project framework of multidisciplinary collaboration will be presented, which is increasingly spreading in most business areas. Its advantages and challenges in the field of developing solutions for AAC will also be addressed.

informacijska i komunikacijska tehnologija, multidisciplinarna suradnja, potpomognuta komunikacija

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