A Communication Partner’s Attitude Based on AAC User’s Response Time

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of non-disabled communication partners when conversing with AAC users, based on the AAC users’ response times and the use of a pre-conversation strategy message. Method: The study examined the communication attitudes of 30 non-disabled participants aged 19 to 29 years. Participants listened to a fictitious conversation between an AAC user and a non-disabled person, rating the communication success, communication acceptance, and message understanding on a 5-point Likert scale according to the AAC user’s response times (5, 10, 20, and 30 seconds). Additionally, the study explored the impact of pre-conversation messages on communication attitudes. Results: Analysis revealed that as the AAC users’ response time increased, non-disabled participants raed communication success, communication acceptance, and message understanding lower. However, even when response times were slow, participants expressed very positive attitudes toward communication when the AAC user employed a pre-conversation strategy message. Conclusion: For AAC users, the ability to generate sentences by accurately and quickly selecting the messages they wish to convey is critical to successful communication. This study’s results indicated that non-disabled individuals rated communication success, acceptance, and message understanding lower when AAC users had a response time of 20 seconds or more, suggesting that employing a pre-conversation strategy message is essential for successful communication by AAC users.