Bilingualism, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, and Communication Disability: A Scoping Review
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
Mitchell, S., & Baker, C. (2024).
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, 26(1), 30-41.
<div>This scoping review explores the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in bilingual individuals with communication disabilities. </div>
Not stated
From database inception to April 2023
<div>Original research or expert opinion/commentary</div>
16 (4 with patient outcomes and/or perspectives)
<div>The use of bilingual AAC led to positive communication outcomes for multilingual children, ages 4 to 13, with communication disabilities. Specific findings include:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The use of low-tech bilingual communication boards during a short-term, group-based intervention led to improved expressive output (1 case series). </li>
<li>A sociocultural approach when using an AAC app led to positive communication outcomes in one teenager with Down syndrome. There was also increased care partner use of this high-tech bilingual system (1 case study). </li>
<li>One study found that 60% of children scored as high performers when using bilingual AAC. There was no significant difference in outcomes between individuals with or without language impairment (1 quasi-experimental study).</li>
</ul>
<div>Limitations to this review include an overall lack of research, the use of Google translate to translate non-English articles, and small sample sizes. Future research is indicated. </div>
</div>
<div>One study investigated the perspectives of multilingual AAC users and found:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>that an overwhelming majority (85%) reported that they wanted access to AAC in other languages;</li>
<li>that they wished to be understood by more people and to feel like part of the group;</li>
<li>that they wanted to use the language of their community; and</li>
<li>that a large barrier to access was the lack of AAC options in languages other than English, especially regarding speech synthesis and orthography.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>Limitations to this review include an overall lack of research, the use of Google translate to translate non-English articles, and small sample sizes. Future research is indicated.</div>
