IS390 Spring 2022

As far as progress on the paper goes, I am working on following the white paper format outlined in the paper instructions.  Going over APA citation format with Amy was helpful so that I can cross that off the list now that I know what I need to do. This week it helped to have dates for submission and to go over a few of the concepts of what is expected of us.  I did hit issues with the amount of time I was able to spend on working on my research paper this week.  The end of the quarter for me coincides with the end of the school year for my kids, and everyone in my household is stressed.  I've had to wear my parent/caregiver hat more this week, and it has pulled my focus, time, and attention on my kids and their mental health instead.  The upcoming holiday weekend will be a nice break in the routine and I will have time to put my focus back on the paper.  Also because I made that request to my family to let me have that time for the paper.

Not much progress has been made this week as far as this paper goes.  The only activity I accomplished was conducting an interview with a friend over coffee.  Her interview consisted of talking about her family’s experiences with speech assistance for their low-functioning autistic son who is now 23 years old.  For several years he was non-verbal and currently does not converse with a full vocabulary like a neurotypical adult would. Low-tech AACs worked best for her and her family, using pictures convey his thoughts. I hope to be able to work in her experience into my paper.  Now that the paper requirements and rubric have been published on Canvas, next week’s task is to sift through it and start sketching out a draft for the paper.

This week I accomplished reading several articles on the various types of AAC devices.  Fun facts I learned this week include the discovery that Val Kilmer’s underwent a tracheostomy  as part of his throat cancer treatment (Warner, 2021), that permanently damaged his voice box.  Since then he has collaborated with Sonantic, a UK based software company, using AI technology to recreate his voice from previously recorded works (Stiernberg, 2021). I also learned that the University of Washington has a program called the Washington Assistive Technology Act Program (WATAP) that has a lending library of all different types of adaptive equipment ( Device Lending Library | WATAP , n.d.) .  Through the program the devices can be loaned out for 3 weeks for a small fee, where the amount of the fee is dependent upon the type of equipment. One of the areas I possibly want to explore is how accessible some of the technology is for the public.  Simple low and non-technical ...

·         What is your prior experience with citing your sources? Have you had to use APA or MLA formats? Is this easy for you, or do you struggle? What sources do you use to cite your sources and/or create bibliographies? The first time I attended college was in 1995 at James Madison University located in Harrisonburg, VA. My freshman year was when I learned how to use a handbook for the MLA writing style.  The styling was hard to get used to since it was all new to me, but by the end of my time at JMU it became easier for me to follow the reference guide for MLA citations and bibliographies. My second collegiate journey started in 2015 at Olympic College, where I have used both MLA and APA formats for several of the papers I have submitted. I often struggled with getting all of the correct bibliographical information for my references, as well as getting them in the proper alphabetical order since it was all done manually. One of my English ...

·         What strategies/criteria did you use to determine when you had gathered enough information to meet your research goal? At this point in my research journey, I know that I have not yet gathered enough material to reach my research goal.   My strategies/criteria I am using is a simple list of questions: Is it relevant to my topic? Can I use excerpts from the article to put in my research paper? Does it fit anywhere in my rough outline for the paper? So far, I have been able to complete enough reading to complete a four page paper, but I need to look for more articles to fill in the gaps of my knowledge.   I still need to learn more about other speech generating devices as well as look into the Autism Spectrum Disorder angle of dealing with speech disabilities. I have a family friend whose son is non-verbal with ASD, and my plan was to sit down with her to learn about their journey.   However, that sit-down with her is on hold...

This week I am currently still at the reading phase of the research.  It’s a comfortable place for me in my journey.  This week alone I was able to gather more material that will help me learn more about AAC technologies.  Amy had pointed out early in the quarter the search engine Carrot 2 , and this week I have utilized the search feature to help with my research journey. Not only did it help point out more articles that could be useful for me to look at, but I also used the “tree map” feature as a mind map that helped introduce other branches and side topics I could potentially add to my research and reading. Below is a screen shot of the tree map results from Carrot 2 when I searched for AAC technologies. This week I did not have any issues, and hopefully it will stay that way for a while.   Next week I hope to have weeded out what articles and topics are not relevant, so I can focus on finding what I really need for rounding out the content for my research pap...

·         How did you select your research topic? What resources did you use, which selection criteria did you follow? At the beginning of my research journey, I had chosen the general subject of Adaptive Technology.   The area of Adaptive Technology is broad already and the type and use of this kind of technology is specific to an individual’s need and disability.   My reason for this area was influenced by a real-world example of my 70-year-old father’s experience with accepting and learning to use his many adaptive devices after he suffered a stroke last year.   My subject area was further narrowed to the area of Adaptive Speech Technology which is often referred to as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices.   Again, I am using real-world and personal experiences with two of my family members that steered me into the area of AAC.   When my daughter was a toddler, we had her in speech therapy to help her...