The effect of AAC training programs on professionals’ knowledge, skills and self-efficacy in AAC : a scoping review

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Authors

Flores, Cathy
Dada, Shakila

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Abstract

Since effective and successful AAC service delivery relies on the knowledge and competence of professionals in the field of AAC, sufficient training in AAC will equip professionals to provide quality AAC service delivery. However, many professionals lack training in AAC and structured opportunities for professional development are sorely needed. As there is no consensus on the amount, mode of delivery and content of AAC training, the purpose of this scoping review was to identify AAC training programs for professional development and to describe the characteristics and effects of such programs. A five-pronged search strategy was used to identify relevant studies. The certainty framework was used to appraise the quality of included studies. Charted data included general study characteristics; participant characteristics; training characteristics (i.e., training goals; instructional materials and strategies; training duration); quality appraisal; and reported effects of the training. The scoping review identified 34 studies for inclusion. The results showed the potential of AAC training programs for continuous professional development to increase professionals’ skills in AAC intervention. A range of training characteristics was identified to guide the development of future training programs. Gaps in the research related to the training of AAC professionals were also identified to guide future research.

Description

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The scoping review protocol was registered with PROSPERO, an international database of prospectively registered reviews (see https://www. crd.york.ac.uk/prospero), with registration identity CRD42022377333. Data can be requested from the first author.

Keywords

Professional development, Training, Scoping review, Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), SDG-03: Good health and well-being

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-being

Citation

Cathy Flores & Shakila Dada (2024): The effect of AAC training programs on professionals’ knowledge, skills and self-efficacy in AAC: a scoping review, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, DOI: 10.1080/07434618.2024.2381462.