A paper by Autism Spectrum Disorders Institute Director Mark O’Reilly and colleagues from four different countries has won the 2014 Editor’s Award for the journal Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
“Tangible Symbols as an AAC Option for Individuals With Developmental Disabilities: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies” earned the most votes from the journal’s associate editors to win the annual award. O’Reilly co-authored the article with Laura Roche, Jeff Sigafoos, Vanessa Green, and Larah van der Meer of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand; Giulio E. Lancioni of the University of Bari in Italy; Dean Sutherland of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand; Ralf Schlosser of Northeastern University in Boston; Peter Marschik of the Medical University of Graz in Austria; and Chaturi Edrisinha of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. The authors reviewed nine studies that evaluated the use of tangible symbols in alternative and augmentative communication interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities, finding the technique promising but in need of further research.