The Experience of Augmentative and Alternative Communication on a Half-Day Training Program on Communication for Support of People with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

- Text mining the free-text comments of students from multiple healthcare disciplines -

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis brings various communication disorders. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies can provide effective solutions but require ongoing support from the multidisciplinary team. We planned a repeating half-day training program on communication support and delivered it to healthcare students at 4 Japanese universities. We investigated the difference in perceived burden of using AAC between “Experienced” participants who had completed training 6 months prior and “Beginner” participants using AAC for the first time, as revealed in their written comments left after AAC use. KH Coder🄬data mining software was used to identify “characteristic” words in the comments. Fifty-eight participants (completing 105 training sessions) participated in the program, The text mining revealed that “eyestrain” was less frequently expressed by Experienced participants than by Beginners, suggesting that a single prior AAC training experience could reduce the burden of use.