Communication opportunities via special messaging technology for two post-coma persons with multiple disabilities Giulio E. Lancioni a, *, Mark F. O’Reilly b , Nirbhay N. Singh c , Jeff Sigafoos d , Francesca Buonocunto e , Valentina Sacco e , Fabio Colonna e , Jorge Navarro e , Crocifissa Lanzilotti e , Claudia de Pace a , Marisa Megna a , Doretta Oliva f a University of Bari, Italy b Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA c ONE Research Institute, Midlothian, VA, USA d Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand e S. Raffaele Rehabilitation Center, Ceglie Messapica, Italy f Lega F. D’Oro Research Center, Osimo, Italy 1. Introduction Persons with acquired brain injury and multiple (motor and communication) disabilities present a number of special demands that rehabilitation and family contexts need to address (Bekinschtein et al., 2005; Chua, Ng, Yap, & Bok, 2007; Giacino & Kalmar, 2005; Giacino & Smart, 2007; Lancioni, Bosco, et al., 2010; Nakase-Richardson, Yablon, Sherer, Nick, & Evans, 2009; Taylor, Aird, Tate, & Lammi, 2007). One of those demands concerns the availability of specific physiotherapeutic intervention to alleviate or, simply, preserve their motor condition (Hellweg & Johannes, 2008; Keren, Reznik, & Groswasser, 2001; Mumford & Wilson, 2009). Another demand concerns the availability of technological support and special intervention procedures to develop positive interaction with (forms of access to) their immediate environment and leisure engagement skills (Lancioni et al., 2009; Lancioni, Singh, O’Reilly, Sigafoos, Buonocunto, et al., Research in Developmental Disabilities 32 (2011) 1703–1708 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 23 February 2011 Accepted 23 February 2011 Available online 26 March 2011 Keywords: Messaging technology Microswitches Acquired brain injury Emergence from minimally conscious state ABSTRACT This study extended the assessment of a special messaging technology with two additional post-coma adults who had emerged from a minimally conscious state, but showed multiple disabilities including profound motor and communication impairments. For each participant, the study involved an ABAB design, in which the A represented baseline phases and the B represented intervention phases with the special messaging technology. The technology involved a net-book computer provided with specific software, a global system for mobile communication (GSM) modem, microswitches, and prerecorded verbal lists of persons’ names and messages. Both participants learned to send out and receive (listen to) messages independently during the intervention, thus providing clear support for previous data in the area. They sent out means of about three and 17 messages and received means of about two and six messages per 20- and 30-min session, respectively. The positive impact of the technology was discussed in relation to previous data in this area and the possibility of helping post-coma persons with multiple disabilities engage in basic communication with distant partners. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, University of Bari, Via Quintino Sella 268, 70100 Bari, Italy. E-mail address: g.lancioni@psico.uniba.it (G.E. Lancioni). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.02.025