Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2022 Apr 11;53(2):335-359. doi: 10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00159. Epub 2022 Mar 15.
The global COVID-19 pandemic brought about widespread use of telepractice to provide services to children with communication disorders, including students who use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) such as speech-generating devices. This descriptive quantitative study utilized network analysis to investigate the nature of speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') professional resource networks during the pandemic, including what aspects of their professional networks were associated with their confidence to use telepractice to serve students who use aided AAC and whether there were differences for school-based compared to nonschool-based SLPs.
Participants were 283 SLPs who responded to an online survey that consisted of closed- and open-ended survey items. A resource generator approach was used to gather data about SLPs' professional resource networks for AAC telepractice.
SLPs varied widely in their confidence for AAC telepractice. School-based SLPs and SLPs who had 3 years or fewer of AAC experience reported lower confidence, whereas SLPs who spent more work time each week using telepractice and who accessed a greater number of different types of training reported higher confidence. The number of people in different roles providing personal support and the number of different electronic/print resources accessed were not significant predictors of SLPs' confidence. The majority of SLPs wanted additional training, support, or resources related to AAC telepractice.
The findings from this research suggest the importance of SLPs' access to quality training and support in the areas of AAC and telepractice, particularly for school-based SLPs.
全球 COVID-19 大流行促使广泛使用远程实践为有沟通障碍的儿童提供服务，包括使用辅助性增强和替代性沟通（AAC）的学生，例如言语生成设备。本描述性定量研究利用网络分析来调查言语病理学家（SLP）在大流行期间专业资源网络的性质，包括他们的专业网络的哪些方面与他们有信心使用远程实践为使用辅助性 AAC 的学生提供服务相关，以及对于基于学校的 SLP 和非基于学校的 SLP 是否存在差异。
参与者是 283 名 SLP，他们对一项在线调查做出了回应，该调查由封闭式和开放式调查项目组成。采用资源生成器方法来收集有关 SLP 的 AAC 远程实践专业资源网络的数据。
SLP 在 AAC 远程实践方面的信心差异很大。基于学校的 SLP 和具有 3 年或更短 AAC 经验的 SLP 报告的信心较低，而每周花费更多时间使用远程实践和访问更多不同类型培训的 SLP 报告的信心较高。提供个人支持的不同角色的人数和访问的不同电子/印刷资源的数量不是 SLP 信心的重要预测因素。大多数 SLP 希望获得有关 AAC 远程实践的额外培训、支持或资源。
这项研究的结果表明，SLP 获得 AAC 和远程实践领域的高质量培训和支持的重要性，特别是对于基于学校的 SLP。
