Social Participation of School-aged Children Who Use Communication Aids: The Views of Children and Parents

Abstract

Social participation is crucial for children's development and well-being; however, little is known about the social participation of children who use communication aids. This article presents findings from interviews with eight 5- to 14-year-old children who used communication aids and their parents about social participation, communicative interactions, and peer relationships. Video- and audio-recordings were transcribed and analyzed using thematic content analysis, and five themes were identified. Two themes reflect parents’ views: Communication partners and strategies and Access to aided communication. Three themes reflect perceptions expressed both by children and parents: Participation in society, Interaction opportunities, and Social relationships. The findings provide insights into both the achievements and the challenges experienced by young people who use aided communication.

Keywords::

• Aided communication
• Participation
• Children
• Interview
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Complex communication needs

Author Note

This study was conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation.

Acknowledgements

We thank the participating children and parents for giving so generously their time and insights and also our colleagues from the Ontario AAC teams, especially Tracy Shepherd, Lauren Robinson, Sean Peacock, Gail Teachman, and Laura Thompson who assisted in this study. Special thanks to Peter Rosenbaum for providing valuable feedback on this manuscript.

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

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy. Beata Batorowicz was supported by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research Doctoral Studentship Award, and the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation Doctoral Scholarship. Stephen von Tetzchner was supported by Stiftelsen Sophies Minde from Oslo, Norway.