Augmentative and Alternative Communication use: family and professionals' perceptions of facilitators and barriers

To investigate the facilitators and barriers involved in the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) by people with complex communication needs in social and therapeutic environments under family members/caregivers and speech-language pathologists (SLP) perceptions.

This is a transversal quantitative and qualitative study with 20 family members/caregivers (FCG) and 20 SLP (SLPG). The data was collected by semistructured interviews with specific questionnaires for each group; recorded and transcribed for further analysis. Data was categorized in thematic axes, categories and subcategories, using recurrent and salient criteria. The two most important topics were: barriers and facilitators.

Both groups indicate as barriers: high material cost, using other ways to communicate, family member as interpreter, language and cognitive deficits, acceptance of AAC for users and family members, lack of comprehension of AAC and family perceptions of AAC as speech suppress. As facilitators, both groups indicate the use of high technology, versatility and availability of AAC systems, family adherence and engagement, contextualized use of AAC outside of therapeutic contexts and the importance of therapeutic setting and team support.

In this way, the main interlocutors in AAC implementation, professionals or family members can be barriers when they make it difficult for users to exercise their autonomy in communication, or facilitators when they encourage and use AAC with users.