AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

(Lidstrom, 2011). The development of the ICF-CY for AAC (Rowland et al. 2012)
has refined measures to code areas where environmental factors may serve as barriers
or facilitators for communication. I propose this research has revealed there is a need
for outcome measures which look specifically at online social media use by people
who use AAC, in order to consider whether the inferences drawn for the benefits of
social inclusion (when referenced against community participation antecedents) can
be validated more formally.
Young people were not always satisfied with the response to their requests for
equipment. This study has identified the internet and online social media supports
total communication strategies and participants within this study indicate this is
important to them. They identify the value of online social media to “talk with
everyone” and being online must not be considered a luxury within their lives but
rather should be regarded as a necessity.
Literacy challenges as identified by Raghavendra et al. (2013) are a major barrier to
internet and online social media use. Literacy training must be targeted as a matter of
urgency. This is an area which has long been identified of intense importance and
concern within the field of AAC. The growing popularity and necessity to be online
within the digital society, makes this issue even more pressing if young people who
use AAC are not going to be additionally marginalised within this area.
The findings have practical applications in terms of barriers and facilitators which will
be of interest to SLTs and educational professionals. The original presentation of the
grounded theory takes the form of a theoretical expose but the following chapter will
present a refined form of the grounded theory in order to offer an accessible version
for those who seek a more practically focused perspective (Figure E).
This research made an original contribution to knowledge by identifying and
attempting to redress the gap within the literature base for the self-reported use of
internet and online social media use by people who use AAC within the United
Kingdom. It has led to the creation of a conceptual grounded theory contextualising
relevant issues within empirical data. A secondary benefit is that it acts as an
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