Children’s attitudes toward interaction with an unfamiliar peer with little or no functional speech : comparing high- and low- technology devices

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.