A call-out for AAC professional development training: Special education teachers speak-up

Abstract

Evidence suggests that special education teachers are not well-prepared to implement services for students who may benefit from augmentative and alternative communication. The lack of training often emerges during their pre-service teacher preparation programs. To alleviate the knowledge gap, special education teachers may rely on professional development training opportunities. As a result, to better understand the perspectives of special education teachers on the state of AAC professional development training an online survey was conducted across the United States. A total of 772 special education teachers provided their views through five identified themes. These included that AAC professional development ‘training is available,’ there is a ‘need for training,’ there are ‘systemic barriers’ to training, ‘team support’ was used as a means for training, and participants were ‘unclear or did not know’ if AAC professional development training was available. Results suggested that most participants indicated that AAC professional development training is lacking, and that training is needed. Various influencing factors were identified between participants' demographics and their views on AAC professional development training. Practical implications, a call to action and future research directions are discussed.