Family Impact of Assistive Technology Scale: Development of a Measurement Scale for Parents of Children with Complex Communication Needs

Abstract

Young people use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to meet their everyday communication needs. However, the successful integration of an AAC system into a child’s life requires strong commitment and continuous support from parents and other family members. This article describes the development and evaluation of the Family Impact of Assistive Technology Scale for AAC Systems – a parent-report questionnaire intended to detect the impact of AAC systems on the lives of children with complex communication needs and their families. The study involved 179 parents and clinical experts to test the content and face validities of the questionnaire, demonstrate its internal reliability and stability over time, and estimate its convergent construct validity when compared to a standardized measure of family impact.

Keywords::

• Augmentative and alternative communication systems
• Disabled children
• Outcome assessment
• Reliability
• Rehabilitation

Acknowledgements

This article is partially based on a presentation at the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Conference held in Toronto, Ontario in 2011. We are especially grateful for the participation of parents and clinical experts who took part in our research studies. We appreciated the support and involvement of our research colleagues – Cynthia Tam, Kent Campbell, Mary-Beth Sophianopoulos, Joan Walker, Michelle LaFrance, and Kathleen Walkey – and clinical colleagues in the Communication and Writing Aids Service at Holland Bloorview. We acknowledge the support of our funders including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health), Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Child Health BC, and the Child Youth Health Research Network.

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