Acceptance and Readiness to Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication by Parents: Current Status

Introduction: Parents' perceptions and attitudes can have a huge impact on the successful acceptance and implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in children with special needs. However, in India, misconceptions about AAC among parents are high. Hence, the present study was conducted to understand the acceptance and readiness of those parents who are still not using AAC with their child. Methods: A descriptive survey method was used. A total of 83 parents of children with special needs served as participants. The data were collected from two speech and hearing institutes of Karnataka. To check acceptance and readiness to use AAC among parents, a checklist was used. Based on the type of questions, the obtained responses were scored and Bloom's cutoff point was used. The percentage of participants under each category was then calculated. Results: It was observed that 29, that is, majority of the participants, were in the category of moderate awareness-knowledge and moderate readiness. The least number of participants, that is, 1.2, were seen in the category of low awareness-knowledge and high readiness and 2.4 in high awareness-knowledge and high readiness. Conclusion: Majority of the participants were not highly ready to use AAC which can be attributed to factors such as low awareness and knowledge, misconceptions, lack of family support, and lack of clinician training in providing adequate information to the stakeholders. The results concluded that awareness among parents is still required to eradicate the misconceptions about AAC. In addition, professional training in this sector is greatly needed. Keywords: Acceptance and readiness, implementation of augmentative and alternative communication, misconceptions