Browsing by Author "Pulkkinen, Mirja"

Aims. The aim of this descriptive review was to examine the challenges parents of children who need augmentative and alternative communication have experienced in the rehabilitation process. Augmentative and alternative communication can support the communicative skills of individuals with moderate and severe disabilities. Even though the parents’ role in the rehabilitation process is very crucial and has been emphasized during the past decades, relatively few studies has examined this in the AAC rehabilitation which is why further research is much needed. Methods. A systematic search was conducted in four scientific databases. Six studies where parents’ experiences were researched via interviews and questionnaires were chosen to be examined in this study. Results and conclusions. Parents experienced various challenges in the AAC rehabilitation process. These challenges were experienced in different aspects of the process: from device selection to expanding the skills of the individual to different situations. Acknowledgement of the challenges is an important part of planning and enhancing effective rehabilitation.