VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS IN AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC): AN EYE TRACKING STUDY TO EXPLORE INFLUENCES OF ABSTRACTION, REALISM, AND FAMILIARITY ON THE GAZE PATTERNS OF A PERSON WITH ANGELMAN SYNDROME WHO USES AAC TECHNOLOGIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND THE ART CLASSROOM

Abstract

People who are non-verbal and have intellectual disabilities often use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies to have a voice, but are often left out of decisions about how their language is represented visually and how its lexical symbols are organized. The gap between designing effective images as part of a visual language expands as many images designated for use on AAC technologies are based upon assumptions of what is appropriate and effective. This eye tracking study explores the effects of images with varying levels of familiarity, abstraction, and realism, and how these factors affect the gaze patterns of someone with Angelman syndrome and is also an emerging communicator. Results revealed evidence to support Kress and van Leewen's theories describing how salience and vectors, when employed in images, influence ways of looking and the reading of images. Further exploration into how visual elements can direct the gaze and potentially create more effective visual language representations could inform educational and research practices to allow people without a voice to become more active agents in their lives, communities, and discourses.