Training intervention for SLT's to improve collaborative working with families of pre-school children with augmentative and alternative comm. tools

Full Title: Developing a novel training intervention for speech and language therapists to improve collaborative working with families of pre-school children provided with augmentative and alternative communication tools.

This study will develop a new conceptual model of collaborative practice from which a novel intervention for speech and language therapists (SLTs) will be designed. This will enhance collaboration between SLTs and parents of children with complex neurodisabilities who would benefit from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention.
The significant benefits of early AAC intervention for children's immediate and long-term language and communication development are well established (e.g. Davidoff., 2017; Drager, Light, McNaughton., 2010). The success of early AAC intervention is largely dependent on parents and SLTs establishing strong collaborative partnerships to determine and develop the most effective AAC approaches (Mandak et al., 2017; Klatte et al., 2020). For parents, the journey of acceptance and readiness to engage in therapies which promote communication, in ways other than natural speech, is critical to engaging collaboratively with AAC intervention. My own research examining parental viewpoints identified themes relating to feelings of grief and the need to adapt to new identities, which can be barriers to the uptake of AAC strategies and tools (Hayward., 2020). For SLTs, a lack of knowledge and skills in genuine collaboration in an AAC context leads to both parents and SLTs experiencing a lack of clarity about their roles (Davies et al., 2017), with intervention typically defaulting to an SLT directed model (Davies et al., 2019; Mandak, Light., 2018; Kummerer., 2012). As a consequence, AAC intervention often falls short and new communication tools are frequently abandoned (Johnson et al., 2006).

The proposed study is a natural progression from my HEE/NIHR funded MRes research, applying theories of collaborative practice to work in AAC and identifying critical factors relating to the adoption of AAC strategies and tools. The project will be the first to work with parents to co-create a novel intervention targeting the therapeutic skills of speech and language therapists and, will draw on significant progress already made, to address the identified need for workforce interventions which develop critical skills to promote collaborative working.