Measuring Responsive Style in Parents who use AAC with their Children: Development and Evaluation of a new Instrument

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an instrument – the Responsive Augmentative and Alternative Communication Style (RAACS) scale Version 2 – to assess the communicative style of parents as they interact with their children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This scale was used to analyze play interactions between 43 parents and 28 children with different diagnoses (including Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability), aged between 12 and 60 months. Parent–child interactions were observed both before and after parent participation in ComAlong, a training course on using responsive communication and AAC to support interaction with children. Based on an analysis of the results, Version 3 of the RAACS scale was developed and is recommended for future use. Analyses of Version 3 showed acceptable inter- and intra-coder reliability, and excellent internal consistency.

Keywords::

• Responsive communication
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Communicative disability
• Communicative style
• Instrument evaluation

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Notes

1. In some cases both parents for a child attended training; in other cases only one parent attended.

2. Versions 2 and 3 of the RAACS are available online at http://www.dart-gbg.org/tips_material/bedomningsinstrument.