Using different methods to communicate: how adults with severe acquired communication difficulties make decisions about the communication methods they use and how they experience them

Abstract

Adults with acquired communication difficulties find digital communication, such as e-mail and social media, and mainstream technologies, such as iPads, beneficial in communicating with others. Current communication technologies present a number of challenges for adults with disabilities and are limited in their communicative functions to support desired interactions. The implications for AAC technology development and speech and language therapy service delivery are addressed.

Technology and its role in rehabilitation for people with cognitive-communication disability following a traumatic brain injury (TBI)

“…Paterson et al (2015) reported that people with acquired conditions who use AAC were often frustrated with AAC technologies, reporting that they had limited functional interactions using these systems. In contrast, they experienced mainstream technologies and digital communications, like social media, to be beneficial when communicating with other people [75]. Communicating in digital environments also appeared to assist in re-establishing self-identity in individuals with acquired communication impairments [75].…”

“…User preferences were observed to include the desire for AAC systems and software to be consistent in access and performance, and easy to install and use [46]. Paterson et al (2015) reported that people with acquired conditions who use AAC were often frustrated with AAC technologies, reporting that they had limited functional interactions using these systems. In contrast, they experienced mainstream technologies and digital communications, like social media, to be beneficial when communicating with other people [75].…”

“…Studies on the use of AAC in rehabilitation for people with TBI (n = 27) while relatively high in number, were small-scale, and comprised: two narrative reviews [26,34] [46,47,53,75,81], and one mixed-methods study [54]. Two literature reviews provided In the past decade, several papers have been published relating to the use of AAC by people with a TBI [29,[31][32][33][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]75,112,122], comprising case series studies [29,[31][32][33]112], single case experiments [59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71], and qualitative studies [47,75]; with a majority focus on device screen display [29,[31][32][33]112], access [47,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71], and emerging research into …”

“…Studies on the use of AAC in rehabilitation for people with TBI (n = 27) while relatively high in number, were small-scale, and comprised: two narrative reviews [26,34] [47,75]; with a majority focus on device screen display [29, [31][32][33]112], access [47,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71], and emerging research into user perspectives [46,75]. Research highlighting factors influencing use of AAC by individuals after TBI provides insight into how technology may facilitate increased independence and participation.…”

“…Brunner et al (2015) identified that the majority of studies on the use of social media in TBI were descriptive and none investigated the effects of using social media on cognitive-communication skills Currently, there is little guidance in the literature on ways to incorporate social media goals into rehabilitation plans for people after TBI. Use of online communication tools could give the person using them more time to consider information, comprehend that information, and respond to messages than is available in in face-to-face conversations [15,75,97]. Practical considerations such as the need for the technology to be accessible, reliable, and durable were also important when introducing technologies for people with TBI.…”