ATTITUDES TOWARDS AN UNFAMILIAR PEER WITH COMPLEX COMMUNICATION NEEDS USING AN IPAD™ WITH AAC SOFTWARE AND A COMMUNICATION BOARD: Perspectives of Adolescents with Physical Disabilities1

This study considered the attitudes of adolescents with physical disabilities towards an unfamiliar peer with complex communication needs who uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The study aimed to determine and compare the attitudes of adolescents with physical disabilities when an unfamiliar peer used a general consumer-level mobile technology device with an AAC application (iPad™ with Proloquo2Go™) versus a low technology communication board. A non-experimental descriptive survey design was used involving 35 adolescents with physical disabilities. The participants were divided into two groups using paired randomization. Group A viewed DVD-1 showing an unfamiliar peer with complex communication needs in a scripted conversation with a communication partner using an iPad with Proloquo2Go. Group B viewed DVD-2, which showed the same interaction using a communication board. The participants completed the Communication Aid/Device Attitudinal Questionnaire (CADAQ) after watching the DVD. The results indicate the unfamiliar peer was viewed more positively by adolescents with physical disabilities when using the iPad with Proloquo2Go as compared to the communication board, with a statistically significant difference in the affective/behavioural and cognitive/belief components of the CADAQ. The use of general consumer-level mobile technologies with AAC applications should therefore be considered for use by adolescents who use AAC.