Despite the growing recognition of the importance of family involvement in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention, little guidance exists on how professionals can establish successful collaborative relationships with families. In this paper, we discuss family systems theory and ecological systems theory as a framework to guide family-centered AAC practice, review family-focused research in AAC, consider how AAC may impact the family system, and provide examples of the clinical implications of using the proposed family systems framework to improve family-centered AAC practice.

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of instruction on single-word reading of individuals who use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). A systematic search identified nine single-case experimental design studies that involved 24 individuals who used aided AAC. Overall, the evidence indicated that instruction had positive effects on reading at the single-word level for individuals across ages and diagnostic categories (i.e., autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP), Down syndrome, and intellectual disability). The studies revealed that these effects were consistent across a range of participant, intervention, and outcome measure characteristics. Phonological approaches, sight-word approaches, and a combination of these two approaches yielded very large effects. Despite the large effects, the findings must be viewed with caution due to limitations in the number of studies and participants and limitations in the reporting of detailed participant and intervention characteristics across the studies. In order to determine which interventions are most effective for which individuals, future research directions are discussed, including the need for greater specificity in describing participant and intervention characteristics, investigations into how to best measure intervention outcomes without requiring spoken responses, and investigations into longer-term interventions targeting a wider range of reading skills.

Although family-centered services have long been discussed as essential in providing successful services to families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ideal implementation is often lacking. This study aimed to increase understanding of how families with children with ASD and limited speech receive services from speech-language pathologists (SLPs). 99 parents of children with ASD and limited speech and 211 SLPs who served children with ASD and limited speech completed questionnaires measuring their experiences with the provision of family-centered services. Findings revealed that parents and SLPs differed in their views on the degree to which family-centered services were being implemented. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed in order to promote continued growth in the acquisition of family-centered skills.

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This study used an online focus group to examine the beliefs and practices of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who served children with complex communication needs regarding their provision of family-centered services. Participants revealed that despite their desire for family involvement and reported beliefs in the importance of family-centered services, there were barriers in place that often limited family-centered service provision. Across the SLPs, many were dissatisfied with their current provision of family-centered services. The SLPs varied in their reported practices, with some reporting family-centered services and others, professional-centered services. Future research is recommended in order to investigate which factors contribute to the variation among SLPs and how the variation impacts children who require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and their families. Potential clinical implications for in-service and pre-service SLPs are discussed to improve future family-centered AAC services.