Abstract:
BACKGROUND : Persons with aphasia (PWA) use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to access and create symbol-based messages. The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate the psychometric properties of the newly developed Communicative Competence Scale (CCS), and (b) to determine if any factors, or subcategories, exist within each scale of the scale. The CCS aims to assess the competence of PWA using AAC. AIMS : Respondents were 55 undergraduate and graduate speech-language pathology students. The students were recruited to test the statistical properties of the CCS and Conversational Skills Rating Scale (CSRS). Prior to completing both instruments, respondents watched two videos of a PWA communicating with a speech-generating device. The messages were displayed using a grid display in one video and a scene display in the other. MAIN CONTRIBUTION : Concurrent validity was established between the CCS and the CSRS, and a moderate correlation was found. Reliability Coefficients revealed that the CCS and the CSRS had acceptable levels of internal consistency. Factor analysis revealed factor loadings or subordinate categories within the CCS and CSRS that were consistent with previous research. CONCLUSIONS : The CCS was found to be an internally consistent, reliable, and valid measure of perceived communicative competence of PWA using aided AAC. Clinical implications are discussed.
