Malaysian teachers’ experience using augmentative and alternative communication with students

Abstract

Teachers play an important role in the successful implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for students with complex communication needs. The goal of this two-phase, mixed-methods study was to explore Malaysian teachers’ use of, experience with, and perceptions about AAC. Phase 1 involved 252 teachers who completed a questionnaire that was aimed at collecting nationwide data about their use and overall perceptions of AAC. Phase 2 involved semi-structured interviews with 13 teachers who had experience supporting students who used AAC. Approximately half of the participants who completed the questionnaire knew about AAC and had used AAC with their students. Almost all of the participants had positive views of AAC though some misconceptions were reported. Most participants had limited knowledge about AAC that led them to experience difficulties supporting their students. Teachers were motivated to receive AAC-related training to enable them to use AAC more successfully with their students given the small number of SLPs in the country.

Keywords:

• Augmentative and alternative communication
• complex communication needs
• developmental disabilities
• low-and middle-income countries
• mixed methods
• teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (GGPM-2013-098).