What is it about?

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability among children, and many affected children experience significant speech impairments. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions can help these children overcome communication barriers and improve their social participation and learning. This study explores the need for, access to, and use of AAC by children with cerebral palsy (CP), which had not yet been explored in Canada. The study presents survey data from caregivers and clinicians. Results indicate that over 75% of children required an AAC system. However, despite the high rate of need, only 38% of these children used AAC devices. High-tech systems were more commonly used than no- or low-tech systems, but their use was often limited to making choices rather than fully engaging in conversations. This suggests that AAC systems were not being used to their full potential, which may limit children’s social and educational experiences. Barriers to accessing AAC systems include long wait times, lack of funding, and inadequate support from service providers.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

More effort is needed to ensure that children with CP receive AAC interventions in a timely manner and that AAC systems are used effectively. Early intervention, better training for caregivers and clinicians, and improved service delivery models are essential for optimizing AAC use and helping children with CP achieve their full communication potential. Future research should focus on national-level data and explore solutions to reduce the barriers identified in this study.

Perspectives

This study emerged organically, as we noticed that we had important data on the need for, access to, and use of AAC that had been collected as part of a larger survey of clinicians and caregivers of children with CP. I have enjoyed exploring this data, and the opportunity to publish and talk about our findings as they have received substantial attention!

Juno Coan-Brill
Western University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Developing a Profile of Canadian Children With Cerebral Palsy Who Require Augmentative and Alternative Communication, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, January 2025, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2024_ajslp-24-00284.
You can read the full text:

Read

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page