Research Project: How do parents of autistic children, who use Augmented Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, perceive their role in facilitating their child’s communication skills?

Hi, my name is Robert and I am an MSc occupational therapy student at the University of Cumbria undertaking research. I am interested in speaking to the parents of autistic children who use digital speech generating Augmented Alternative Communication (AAC) devices.

Research show’s that for children to effectively learn how to develop communication skills they need a ‘communication partner’. My study is designed to explore parent’s experiences of supporting their child to communicate using their speech generating device.

There is quite a bit of research focusing on how children use the devices but less focused on how parent’s roles in their children’s use of their AAC devices.  I hope that my research can help occupational therapists understand if/how they could support parents of autistic children who use digital AAC devices.

If you are interested in finding out more about the study and how to participate please click on this link.