Effect of Teletraining on Parents’ Use of a Strategy to Support Communication by Their Young Children With Multiple Disabilities During Shared Reading.

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of teletraining on parents’ use of a target strategy to support communication by young children with multiple disabilities using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) within a shared storybook reading context using digital storybooks within visual scene display AAC systems. Method: A single-case multiple baseline design was implemented remotely with six parent–child dyads, including parents of children with concomitant speech and motor difficulties (i.e., multiple disabilities). The independent variable was the instruction in the target strategy provided to parents via teletraining. The main dependent variable was parent accuracy implementing the target strategy. Data were also collected on the resulting effect on the total number of child communication turns during the shared storybook reading. Results: All parents learned to implement the target strategy with > 80% accuracy, given instruction, feedback, and opportunities to role-play during two teletraining sessions (a total of 50–90 min total). Parents’ use of the strategy following teletraining was associated with increased communication turns, increased use of aided AAC as a communication modality, and increased expression of unique vocabulary concepts by their children with multiple disabilities. Conclusions: This study extended the prior communication partner training research to include parents of young children with multiple disabilities who used AAC. The study also demonstrated the effectiveness, efficiency, and appropriateness of telepractice as a format for AAC intervention for geographically dispersed individuals with significant speech challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]