The Protocol for the Analysis of Aided Language Samples in Spanish: A Tutorial

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to describe a tool and a procedure to support the collection and qualitative manual analysis of aided language samples in Spanish. Method: The Protocol for the Analysis of Aided Language Samples in Spanish (PAALSS) was developed from the present knowledge of Spanish language acquisition, and established procedures for the analysis of aided language samples. A draft version of PAALSS was distributed among 476 augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) service providers in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, who provided feedback on their usability and applicability. The clinical application of PAALSS is illustrated through the analysis of three different language samples of an 8-year-old child who uses aided AAC. Results: The use of PAALSS allowed the child’s educational team to document the child’s strengths and to set therapy goals to address her needs, such as increasing the length of her utterances and other structures essential for grammaticalization including articles, adjectives, adverbs, diminutives, morphemes for gender and number, prepositions, and personal pronouns. Conclusions: PAALSS can be used to describe the expressive language use of children who use aided AAC in Spanish and are in the early stages of language development. PAALSS can also be used as a guide to set goals for and measure outcomes of language therapy along four domains of expressive language including vocabulary, morphology, grammatical complexity, and syntax. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.19233237