Abstract:
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) provides many individuals
with little or no functional speech (LNFS) with a means to function within their daily
environments and lives. AAC comprises the use of either or both unaided (the individual
with LNFS‘s body) and aided (high- and low-technology devices) methods for
communicating. High-technology non-dedicated devices like the iPad™ with
Proloquo2Go have changed the future of augmentative and alternative communication.
This study aimed to determine and compare the attitudes of typically developing
children towards an unfamiliar peer with LNFS who uses a high-technology nondedicated
communication device, namely the iPad™ with Proloquo2Go (Video 1), and
the same unfamiliar peer with LNFS using a low-technology communication board
(Video 2). Seventy-eight (78) children between the ages of 9; 00 -12; 11, participated in
the study. The participants were divided into two groups and a 2 x 2 crossover design
was utilized. Group 1 was required to watch two videos in a specific sequence, one video
of an unfamiliar peer with LNFS communicating with the high-technology non-dedicated
iPad™ with Proloquo2Go, followed by a video of the same unfamiliar peer with LNFS in
a communication interaction using a low-technology communication board. Participants
were required to complete a Communication Aid/Device Attitudinal Questionnaire
(CADAQ) after viewing each video. Participants in Group 2 watched the same videos in
an alternating sequence in order to counterbalance effects of order. Results revealed that
the video of the unfamiliar peer with LNFS using the iPad™ with Proloquo2Go was
perceived more positively by the participants within certain dimensions of the CADAQ
and the possible reasons are described. This is followed by a critical evaluation of the
study and recommendations for future research.
