Perspectives and experiences of adults who use AAC on making and keeping friends

Friendship Experiences of Young Adults Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

“…Mutuality and interdependency as further characteristics of friendships of people with an without disabilities (Knox & Hickson, 2001;Hartup & Stevens, 1999) were also noted in the participants' friendships. The findings were similar to those recorded by Therrien (2019), where adults using AAC described their friendships as characterised by mutuality, commitment and depth. In this study interdependency in the friendship extended to the communication process, where friends assisted others to understand the person with AAC.…”

“…Participants and carers commented that the friends understood the participants' communication methods very well -often better than even close family members. Good listening skills, patience, and a willingness to learn alternative forms of communication have been noted as characteristics of the friends of persons using AAC (Therrien, 2019).…”

“…For persons without disabilities, the ability to express who they are to build relationships, friendships and achieve emotional resonance with others seems to rely heavily of the use of spoken language (Wickenden, 2011b). For persons who lack functional speech and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), any decrease in either communicative effectiveness or emotional responsiveness may be expected to have a negative influence on the patterns of friendship acquisition and maintenance between themselves and persons who use speech to communicate (Anderson, Balandin, & Clendon, 2011;Therrien, 2019) This may be particularly true for persons who, in addition to relying on AAC, with its implications for reduced rate of communication, also have limited linguistic competence and are constrained by an AAC system with limited expressive capacity (Light, Arnold, & Clark, 2003). Persons with physical disabilities can experience additional barriers to friendship formation, including difficulties with transport and physical accessibility of community venues or the homes of friends, while also facing stigma related to disability that is possibly exacerbated by the visibility of their disability (Antle, 2004;Petrina, Carter & Stephenson, 2014;Stevens et al, 1996).…”

“…Although these friendships may differ in some respects from those amongst persons using speech, researchers and clinicians should guard against a normative definition of and framework for friendship. It has been questioned, for example, whether the construct 'friendship' can be objectified and measured from observations and reports by outsiders (Ladd, 2009;Therrien, 2019), and definitions of friendships have been shown to engender a degree of cultural and contextual bias (Crossley, 2015). Obtaining the view of persons who use AAC themselves on how they experience and perceive friendships may be the most valid way of understanding the phenomenon, and also of identifying possible barriers and support needs.…”

“…A few studies have investigated the perspectives of adolescents and adults who use AAC on social relationships and friendships (Cooper, Balandin, & Trembath, 2015;Therrien, 2019;Wickenden, 2011a;. Cooper et al (2015) interviewed six young adults with CP using AAC about their experiences of loneliness.…”