Including People Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Qualitative Research : Can You Hear Us?

Journal article


Walsh, Megan, Harman, Isobel, Manning, Penny, Ponza, Brenton, Wong, Shirley, Shaw, Brodie, Sellwood, Darryl, Anderson, Kate, Reddihough, Dinah and Wallen, Margaret. (2024). Including People Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Qualitative Research : Can You Hear Us? International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 23, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241234190
AuthorsWalsh, Megan, Harman, Isobel, Manning, Penny, Ponza, Brenton, Wong, Shirley, Shaw, Brodie, Sellwood, Darryl, Anderson, Kate, Reddihough, Dinah and Wallen, Margaret
Abstract

People who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are frequently excluded from research, yet their voices can significantly enhance the applicability, acceptability, and translation of qualitative research findings. Accessible and adapted research methods welcome and empower participants who use AAC, and enable meaningful involvement. In this article, we describe the collaborative development of a framework to conceptualise inclusive research and aspects of an accompanying inclusive research toolkit. The framework identifies balancing power as a critical factor, primarily achieved by ensuring that research methods and materials are accessible to people who use AAC. We propose that this is achieved through three interacting elements: collaboration with AAC users, skills and knowledge to achieve accessibility, and ensuring adequate time is available to achieve involvement. We identify five areas where applying these elements has impact for AAC users: recruiting AAC users, working with communication supporters, adapting research methods, securing ethics approval, and consent. In presenting the framework, we demonstrate how qualitative researchers can foster a research environment that values and actively includes AAC users, ultimately advancing the field towards more comprehensive and inclusive research practices. While our work is situated in the cerebral palsy and AAC communities, our proposed framework and toolkit can be applied by researchers seeking perspectives from individuals with communication disabilities more broadly. We have created a corresponding plain language video of this article as an additional means of optimising accessibility of the content.

Keywordsaugmentative and alternative communication users; inclusive research; consumer involvement; complex communication needs
Year01 Jan 2024
JournalInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods
Journal citation23, pp. 1-13
PublisherSage Publications Ltd. (UK)
ISSN1609-4069
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241234190
Web address (URL)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/16094069241234190
Open accessOpen access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1-13
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File Access Level
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Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online20 Feb 2024
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Deposited05 Sep 2024
Supplemental file
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© The Author(s) 2024.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
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