The Waisman Center Communication Aids & Systems Clinic (CASC) is a partnership with the UW Rehabilitation Department of the UW Hospital & Clinics (UWHC). The CASC team’s speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists partner with families to provide highly specialized, cutting-edge augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for children and adults experiencing significant communication difficulties. CASC provides services for people who have a range of disabilities that include: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), spinal cord injuries, aphasia, traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, autism, Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, and multiple disabilities.
Patients served by CASC access a wide array of AAC and computer access technology including: low technology AAC such as communication boards and books; high technology AAC including communication devices with voice output, often referred to as speech generating devices (SGD); equipment that provides adapted access methods for operating AAC and computers (allowing the use of such options as switches, head pointing and eye gaze access); adaptive communication applications for “off the shelf” technology, such as portable tablets and mobile media devices.