Search

Purpose: Family--professional partnerships are important for youth learning to use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This study examined the family-oriented beliefs and practices of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with preschool and school-aged children learning to use aided AAC (aged 3--21 years), specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Participants were 25 SLPs who participated in an individual semistructured interview. Qualitative analysis was used to identify and describe groups of SLPs based on commonalities and differences in their beliefs and practices working with families. The characteristics of SLPs in each group was also explored descriptively (e.g., race/ethnicity, work setting, caseload). Results: SLPs clustered into three groups based on their beliefs and practices: (a) professionally centered, (b) family-allied, and (c) family-focused. SLPs varied across these groups in how they planned services, offered training/coaching, communicated, shared resources, offered emotional support, and adapted to and with different families. Conclusions: Findings indicate the need to support greater family-centeredness in AAC services by building on the strengths of SLPs in the field. Promoting strong family--professional partnerships could in turn improve outcomes for students who use AAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: American educational legislation suggests culturally competent speech and language services should be provided in a child's native language, but the number of multilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) is negligible. Consequently, many monolingual English-speaking practitioners are being tasked with providing services to these populations. This requires that SLPs are educated about cultural and linguistic diversity as well as the legislation that concerns service provision to non-English or limited English proficiency speakers. Purpose: This qualitative study explored the experiences of monolingual, American, English-speaking SLPs and clinical fellows who have worked with immigrant and refugee families within a preschool context. It investigated what training SLPs received to serve this population and what knowledge these SLPs possessed with regard to federal legislation governing the provision of services to culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) communities. Method: Ten American clinicians with experience treating CLD children of refugee and immigrant families in the context of preschool service provision participated in the study. Semistructured interviews were utilized to better understand the type of training clinicians received prior to and during their service delivery for CLD populations. Additionally, questions were asked to explore the degree to which practitioners understood federal mandates for ethical and effective service provision. The data collected from these interviews were coded and analyzed using the principles of grounded theory. Findings: The results of this study revealed that there was a general sense of unpreparedness when working with CLD clients. This lack of training also attributed to a deficiency of knowledge surrounding legislation governing service provision to CLD populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the graduate training experiences of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Comparisons were made between recent graduates (post 2006) and pre-2006 graduates to determine if differences existed in their academic and clinical experiences or their confidence in working with children with ASDs. Method: A 46-item, web-based, national survey was used. Participants were recruited through e-mail and listservs for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Special Interest Divisions 1 (Language, Learning, and Education) and 16 (School-Based Issues). Results: Recent graduates reported a greater amount of graduate coursework relating to ASDs than pre-2006 graduates. However, the pre-2006 graduates reported significantly greater confidence in the areas of counseling parents of children who exhibit "red flags" of ASDs and addressing social communication, literacy, and academics in intervention. Conclusion: Results of the current survey indicated an increase in the amount of preprofessional training that SLPs receive relating to ASDs. Nonetheless, the majority of SLPs reported that they could have benefitted from additional clinical experience and training working with children with ASDs. The greater degree of confidence reported by the pre-2006 graduates highlights the importance of experience and continuing education for professionals in the field of speech-language pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]