The AAC Mentor Project: Web-based instruction in sociorelational skills and collaborative problem solving for adults who use augmentative and alternative communication

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effects of a self-paced instructional program, delivered via an accessible website, to teach sociorelational skills and collaborative problem-solving skills to adults with cerebral palsy who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The instruction was designed to prepare participants to serve as mentors, in an Internet-based mentor program, for adolescents and young adults who also used AAC (Light & McNaughton, ). The effect of the training program was evaluated in two separate studies utilizing single-subject multiple probe designs: Study 1 investigated the effects of Lesson 1 of the web-based instructional program on the acquisition of sociorelational skills by six adults who used AAC; and, Study 2 focused on the effects of Lesson 2 on the acquisition of collaborative problem-solving skills by 15 adults who used AAC. All participants in Study 1 successfully acquired the target sociorelational skills to help them establish positive mentoring relationships with their protégés, and all participants in Study 2 acquired the collaborative problem-solving skills to support protégés in overcoming challenges in their lives and attaining goals. Results are discussed, along with implications for practice and directions for future research.

Keywords:

• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Internet
• Instruction
• Intervention
• Adult
• Mentor
• Problem solving
• Sociorelational
• Strategy

Notes

1 The Penn State AAC Mentor Project was designed to address two objectives: (a) To develop, implement, and systematically evaluate the effectiveness of a leadership training program (delivered via the Internet) designed to teach sociorelational skills and collaborative problem solving skills to adults who use AAC in order to prepare them to serve as mentors; and (2) To develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a mentoring program linking adolescents and young adults who use AAC via the Internet with mentors who use AAC who were trained under Objective 1. This paper reports the results of the research conducted under Objective 1, the effects of the web-based training program to prepare adults who use AAC as mentors; readers are referred to Light and McNaughton (2002) for a report on the full research grant.

2 The Penn State AAC Mentor Project had two phases, each including a mentor leadership training program and a mentoring program for adolescents and young adults who used AAC. The first phase involved a total of 16 mentors. Subsequent to the evaluation of the training program and mentoring program in Phase 1, minor revisions were made to further improve the leadership training and mentoring program and the revised programs were implemented in Phase 2 with a new group of mentors and protégés. This paper reports on the results of the mentor leadership training conducted under Phase 1.

3 Readers can access a modified version of the Penn State AAC Mentor Leadership Training Program at the following website: http://mcn.ed.psu.edu/∼mentor/training/intro.html. This website starts with an introduction (http://mcn.ed.psu.edu/∼mentor/training/intro.html) and then links four lessons that are designed to be completed sequentially: Lesson 1 (http://mcn.ed.psu.edu/∼mentor/training/comm1.html) to teach sociorelational skills (i.e., the LAF strategy); Lesson 2 (http://mcn.ed.psu.edu/∼mentor/training/prob1.html) to teach collaborative problem solving skills (i.e., the DO IT! strategy); Lesson 3 (http://mcn.ed.psu.edu/∼mentor/training/info1.html) to teach the skills to access disability-related information and resources (i.e., the ASK strategy); and the final lesson (http://mcn.ed.psu.edu/∼mentor/training/alltog1.html) to review all of the strategies.