Augmentative and Alternative Communication: the role of Communication Partners

The focus of this thesis will be on the role that communication partners play in supporting AAC users’ participation. The term communication partner refers to family members, friends, acquaintances, professionals and unfamiliar persons that interact with the AAC users. Communication partners share responsibilities in the success of AAC intervention by providing communication opportunities to individuals who use AAC. Our focus will be indeed, on the language learning opportunities and interaction opportunities that communication partners may provide through AAC interventions. Two research questions will lead the development of this thesis. The first one relates with language learning opportunities and the role of AAC devices in supporting communication partners’ language modeling strategies and vocabulary expansion. The second one relates with interactions opportunities and the role of communication partners’ attitudes toward individuals who use AAC.