Erfarenheter och behov hos flerspråkiga föräldrar till barn med kommunikationssvårigheter som gått KomUng kommunikationskurs

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to look into bilingual parents‟ perspectives on their own and their children‟s communication and communication disabilities. Furthermore the study aimed to examine these parents‟ needs regarding education in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and whether ComYoung communication course had met the needs. ComYoung address parents of school-aged children with extensive communicative disabilities and intend to give them increased knowledge in communication and AAC. Six parents of four children aged between 9 and 14 years attended the course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and content analysis was made. The results showed great variation in experiences of being bilingual and having children with disabilities. The parents had different opinions on how interventions should be adapted. The importance of taking each family‟s unique use of languages into consideration was obvious. The parents perceived ComYoung as stimulating for their communication with the child. Certain needs had been met while others remained. The implications for future research and course development are discussed.