Attitudes Toward and Perceived Communicative Competence of Individuals with Aphasia Using Speech-Generating Devices

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interface display and respondent group on listener attitudes toward and perceived communicative competence of persons with aphasia. The Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Persons scale and the Communicative Competence Scale was used to measure listener attitudes and communicative competence, respectively. A 2 × 3 mixed factorial design was used. Interface display videos served as the within-subjects variable (i.e., grid and scene displays), and the respondent group served as the between-subjects variable. A total of 113 respondents (i.e., undergraduate lower-division students, undergraduate upper-division students, and family caregivers of individuals with aphasia) watched an individual with aphasia using a grid display in one video and a scene display in another video. The respondents completed the two scales. Significant main effects (p < .05) were found for interface display and respondent group. The use of scene displays had a more favorable impact on competence ratings than the use of grid displays. Family caregiver ratings were significantly (p < .05) more favorable than ratings from other groups. The Communicative Competence Scale was found to be a reliable measure of perceived communicative competence. Scene displays have the potential to enhance the perceived communicative competence of this population.

Keywords:

• Aphasia
• augmentative and alternative communication
• communicative competence
• grid display
• interface display
• visual scene displays

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. We would like to thank the student participants, individuals with aphasia, and research assistants for their help with this project.

Notes

1 This study was not designed to investigate how much variance toward perceived competence is contributed by each of those design variables/features across two displays but rather to use these displays as bundles of features as they are used in clinical practice where variables such as symbol type (i.e., photographs, line drawings) and message organization (i.e., navigation) are packaged into an interface display to provide access to communication

2 The DynaVox VMax is a product of the Tobii Dynavox Company, Pittsburgh, PA, https://us.tobiidynavox.com/#

3 The Picture Communication Symbols and Dynasyms symbol sets are products of the Tobii Dynavox Company, Pittsburgh, PA, https://us.tobiidynavox.com/#