Escola ‘sem’ partido: esfinge que ameaça a educação e a sociedade brasileira

Abstract

Over the last two decades it has been recognized that spoken language and communication skills continue to develop during adolescence. It seems likely that, for people who use aided AAC, language learning similarly continues into adolescence. Despite its importance, this developmental period has been largely ignored in research. In this paper, the significance assigned to adolescence as a developmental period is reviewed. The language and communication changes that typify adolescence and the consequences of difficulties in these areas are considered. Potential challenges to aided communication systems and the implications of the linguistic and socio-communicative attributes of such systems are explored. Finally, an agenda for research is proposed in order to further the understanding among AAC professionals of this important developmental period.