Family-Centered Intervention and Satisfaction With AAC Device Training

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe a family-centered collaborative approach for developing and implementing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device training for one family. Family-centered training emphasized collaboration with the primary investigator and focused on needs assessment, the identification of priority communicative contexts, AAC device implementation, and communication partner training. Responses to a questionnaire to assess satisfaction at posttraining revealed high degrees of satisfaction for most dimensions (e.g., expertise and sensitivity of the trainer, relevance and appropriateness of the training). Other dimensions (e.g., family's comfort when using the AAC device), by comparison, were associated with less satisfaction, which provides important information to guide further intervention efforts. Clinical implications, directions for future research, and the importance of a family-centered approach to practice are discussed.