Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, Rehabilitation, Key word signing, implementation, support staff, schools, adults, COMMUNICATION PARTNER INSTRUCTION, ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, AAC ASSESSMENT, ADULTS, LANGUAGE, SPEECH, PERSPECTIVES, INDIVIDUALS, DISABILITIES, Attitude of Health Personnel, Communication Aids for Disabled, Education, Special, Group Homes, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Qualitative Research, School Teachers, Schools, Sign Language, 1303 Specialist Studies in Education, 2001 Communication and Media Studies, Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, 3904 Specialist studies in education, 4201 Allied health and rehabilitation science, 4701 Communication and media studies

Abstract:

Even though use of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) by staff has been extensively researched, few studies relate to unaided AAC strategies such as key word signing (KWS). We explored the KWS views of two groups: direct support staff in group residential homes and teachers from special education secondary schools. We examined transcripts from individual semi-structured interviews with five direct support staff and five teachers using thematic analysis. Participants discussed consistency of KWS use and reasons for implementing KWS. Compared to direct support staff, teachers described more use of KWS throughout the day with more individuals with intellectual disability. Teachers discussed use of KWS to facilitate students' present and future interactions, while direct support staff primarily discussed immediate effects. Participants experienced KWS implementation as a learning process and aimed to turn the use of manual signs into a routine habit. This required considerable self-monitoring, and the effort that this continuous self-feedback required, combined with environmental factors, could hinder KWS implementation. These preliminary findings suggest that preservice KWS training and on-site KWS assistance may need to be enhanced.