Department of Special Education, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
School of Communication Science & Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahasee.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2022 Jan 18;31(1):303-321. doi: 10.1044/2021_AJSLP-21-00036. Epub 2021 Dec 14.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to sudden, widespread use of telepractice, including providing services to children who use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This exploratory study examined speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) experiences using telepractice to provide services to children and youth aged 3-21 years who used aided AAC during the earlier months of the pandemic (May-June 2020).
Three hundred thirty-one SLPs responded to an online survey. Closed- and open-ended survey items were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and mixed at the point of interpretation to understand the experiences of SLPs related to the use of telepractice with children who use aided AAC, including how they perceived effectiveness.
Most SLPs were using telepractice to provide both direct and consultation/coaching services to children who used aided AAC. There was fairly wide variation in perceptions of effectiveness of both types of services, but SLPs were more likely to rate consultation/coaching services as being more effective than direct services. SLPs identified factors impacting effectiveness across five dimensions: broader factors, practice-based factors (i.e., technology, the type of services), the child, parents and family members, and professionals. School-based SLPs perceived telepractice as being less effective than non-school-based SLPs.
The use of telepractice during the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded quite differently for different SLPs and the children who use aided AAC that they serve. Although AAC telepractice offers promise for the future, particularly for partnering with families, further research is needed to know how to overcome challenges experienced by SLPs.
新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行导致远程实践的突然广泛应用，包括为使用辅助性增强和替代性沟通（AAC）的儿童提供服务。本探索性研究调查了言语-语言病理学家（SLP）在大流行早期（2020 年 5 月至 6 月）使用远程实践为 3-21 岁使用辅助性 AAC 的儿童和青少年提供服务的经验。
331 名 SLP 对在线调查做出回应。使用封闭式和开放式调查项目进行定量和定性分析，并在解释时进行混合，以了解 SLP 与使用辅助性 AAC 的儿童使用远程实践相关的经验，包括他们如何感知效果。
大多数 SLP 正在使用远程实践为使用辅助性 AAC 的儿童提供直接和咨询/辅导服务。两种类型的服务的有效性感知存在相当大的差异，但 SLP 更有可能将咨询/辅导服务评为比直接服务更有效。SLP 确定了影响五个维度有效性的因素：更广泛的因素、基于实践的因素（即技术、服务类型）、儿童、父母和家庭成员以及专业人员。以学校为基础的 SLP 认为远程实践的效果不如非学校为基础的 SLP。
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，远程实践的使用对不同的 SLP 和他们所服务的使用辅助性 AAC 的儿童有很大的不同。尽管 AAC 远程实践具有未来的潜力，特别是在与家庭合作方面，但需要进一步研究以了解如何克服 SLP 所经历的挑战。
