Effect of partner reauditorization on young adults’ attitudes toward a child who communicated using nonelectronic augmentative and alternative communication

This study examined whether partner reauditorization affected the attitudes reported by young adults toward a child who communicated using nonelectronic AAC. The study also examined preferences for the way the AAC system was used (i.e., in the presence or absence of reauditorization), whether reauditorization was associated with differences in perceptions about the social interactions with the child, and ease of understanding the child’s aided messages. For the study, 84 young adults viewed (a) one video of a child who communicated using nonelectronic AAC in which the child’s communication partner reauditorized the child’s aided message, and (b) a second video in which the message was not reauditorized. Participants answered survey questions designed to measure dependent variables including attitudes, ease of understanding, perceptions about the child’s social interactions, and preferences regarding reauditorization. Attitudes toward the child were more positive when reauditorization was implemented. Partner reauditorization may play a role in improving attitudes that individuals hold about a child who uses nonelectronic AAC and may also contribute to the ease of understanding an aided message.