Glossary

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Parkinson's Disease(also: PD)

A progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting movement, including tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and balance problems. Parkinson's disease can also significantly affect speech (causing quiet, monotone, or slurred speech), facial expression, and fine motor control.…

Perpetual Contact

Perpetual contact is a sociological term coined by James Katz and Mark Aakhus to describe the state, enabled by mobile phones and later by ubiquitous internet messaging, in which people maintain constant availability to their social network regardless of physical location. For…

Person-First Language(also: People-First Language, PFL)

Person-first language is a linguistic convention that places the person before the disability or condition, such as "person with a disability" or "person with autism," with the intent of emphasizing personhood over diagnosis. While widely adopted in professional and medical…

Personal Narrative(also: Storytelling, Conversational Narrative)

The act of telling others about one's own experiences, events, and feelings — a fundamental aspect of human social interaction. Personal narrative serves multiple functions: building and maintaining relationships, developing identity and sense of self, processing experiences…

Phoneme(also: Speech Sound)

The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish one word from another. For example, the /b/ and /p/ sounds in "bat" and "pat" are different phonemes. American English has approximately 39 phonemes, compared to 26 letters in the alphabet. In accessibility and AAC…

Phonemic Spelling(also: Phonetic Spelling)

The practice of spelling words based on their pronunciation rather than their conventional orthography, used as a workaround when text-to-speech systems do not support a desired language. In AAC contexts in Ghana, speech and language therapists experimented with typing English…

Phonocentrism

The ideological privileging of spoken language as the default and superior mode of communication, with corresponding devaluation of signed, typed, symbolic, or augmentative forms. In accessibility, phonocentrism surfaces when technologies (voice assistants, automatic speech…

Photo-based Communication(also: Visual Communication Aid, Image-based Communication)

A communication strategy that uses photographs or images as the primary medium for conveying meaning, sharing experiences, and supporting conversation. For people with aphasia, intellectual disabilities, or other conditions that affect spoken and written language, photographs…

Phrase-Based Communication(also: Phrase-Based AAC, Pre-Stored Phrase Communication)

An augmentative and alternative communication approach where users select complete pre-composed phrases or sentences rather than constructing messages letter by letter or word by word. Phrase-based systems offer faster communication rates than spelling-based methods, which is…

Pictograph(also: Pictogram, Picture Symbol, Graphic Symbol)

A simplified visual symbol or image that represents a word, concept, or action, used as an alternative or supplement to written text. Pictograph systems such as Sclera, Beta, and Widgit are widely used in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to support people with…

Picture Communication Symbols(also: PCS, Boardmaker Symbols)

A widely used graphic symbol system for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), consisting of simple, colorful line drawings representing words, phrases, and concepts. Developed by Mayer-Johnson (now part of Tobii Dynavox), PCS is one of the most common symbol sets…

Picture Exchange Communication System(also: PECS)

A structured augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system that teaches individuals to use pictures to communicate with others. Developed by Andrew Bondy and Lori Frost in 1985, PECS uses a series of six phases to teach individuals — typically children with autism or…

Pidgin Signed English(also: PSE, Contact Signing, Sign Supported English)

A hybrid communication system that combines elements of American Sign Language (ASL) and English. In PSE, signers use ASL signs for the main content words of an English sentence, following English word order, but generally do not include extra signs for English word endings or…

Pragmatic Language(also: Pragmatics, Social Language)

The aspect of language that deals with how context, social norms, and communicative intent shape how language is used and interpreted in real social interactions. Pragmatic language skills include understanding conversational turn-taking, using appropriate backchanneling,…

Pragmatic language(also: Social language, Language pragmatics)

The aspect of language concerned with how context, tone, social norms, and shared knowledge shape meaning beyond the literal words spoken or written. Pragmatic language skills include understanding sarcasm, irony, and implied meaning; interpreting tone and intent; making…

Preverbal Communication(also: Prelinguistic Communication)

The stage of communication development before the consistent use of recognizable words, typically occurring in neurotypical children between birth and approximately 12 months of age. Preverbal communication includes vocalizations (babbling, cooing), gestures, eye gaze, facial…

Prosodic Breaks(also: Prosodic Pauses, Prosodic Boundaries)

Pauses or breaks in the flow of communication that convey grammatical, syntactic, or emphatic meaning. In sign language, prosodic breaks occur between signs and serve functions similar to intonation and pausing in spoken language — marking sentence boundaries, separating clauses…

Prosody(also: Speech Prosody, Intonation Patterns)

The patterns of stress, rhythm, intonation, and timing in speech that convey meaning beyond the literal words. Prosody communicates emotions, emphasis, questions versus statements, sarcasm, and conversational cues like turn-taking signals. For AAC users relying on text-to-speech…

Protactile Language(also: Pro-Tactile, PT)

A fully touch-based language developed by the DeafBlind community that redefines communication through physical contact, including taps, squeezes, and shared contact space. Protactile Language represents a striking example of a communication micro-culture, where a community…

Pseudobulbar Affect(also: PBA, Emotional Incontinence, Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder)

A neurological condition characterized by episodes of involuntary, exaggerated, or inappropriate emotional expression — such as uncontrollable laughing or crying — that may not match the person's actual emotional state. Pseudobulbar affect occurs after damage to the neural…

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