Teaching communication aid use in everyday conversation

Abstract

This Conversation Analysis study investigated how a speech and language therapist (SLT) created opportunities for communication aid use in multiparty conversation. An SLT interacted with a child with multiple disabilities and her grandparents in a home setting, using a bliss board. The analyses demonstrated a practice where the SLT employed sequential and multimodal methods to open up interactional spaces for board use. The board was used within this space either by the child, or by the SLT. The space was then closed by the SLT’s attentive checking for confirmation or rejection of the meaning of the board indication. The meaning-making processes were actively initiated, supported, and closed by the therapist, using a variety of linguistic and bodily methods such as questions, non-finished turns, indication modeling, and adjusting the board’s position. The child confirmed or rejected the therapist’s moves using board indications, vocalizations, gaze, head movements, and smiles. The analysed practice creates opportunities for teaching and possibly also for learning how to use a communication aid.