• Age: LTs ranged between the ages of 24-65 years old.

• Experience: The years of LT experience for each participant ranged from 2-28 years with a mean of 9.4 years.

• Languages: All LTs spoke Spanish as their primary language and provided services within Spanish, with one LT reporting to also provide services in basic sign-language.

• Education: Within Guatemala, there are no bachelor’s degrees in language therapy. To become an LT requires a 2-3 year technical program in language therapy. Many then go on to complete a bachelor’s degree in psychology. The majority of participants received both their technical degree in LT and their bachelor’s degree in psychology, with some only completing the technical LT degree and some also completing a master’s degree in psychology or education.

• Work settings: The LTs worked across various therapy settings, with the majority of participants within individual’s homes or for a private agency. On average, the LTs worked within an average of 2.3 settings.

• It has been estimated that 1-2% of the billion people in the world with disabilities have complex communication needs. The majority of these individuals live in low- to middle-income (LAMI) countries.

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) services are lackingwithin LAMI countries for several reasons:

1. Lack of language therapists (LTs); 2. Lack of training for those LTs that are available;3. LAMI countries often having large rural populations, as well as limited access to

health, educational, economical, and technological resources; 4. Communication services may not be seen as essential rehabilitation services by the

government; 5. Gaps in the research completed on AAC in LAMI countries compared to high-income

countries

• Guatemala is a LAMI country experiencing many of these barriers to AAC, with 31% of households including at least one person with a disability.

• The current study aims to collect Guatemalan LTs’ perspectives regarding AAC, with a focus on current knowledge and use, needs, and resources.

• Survey: Qualtrics was used to create a survey made up of nine sections: Demographics, Experience, AAC Education, Assessment, AAC Use, AAC Knowledge, Opinion Questions, Acceptance of AAC in Guatemala, and Resources Available. Some of these quantitative results are presented here in the form of descriptive statistics.

• Interviews: Ten of the participants were interviewed to gather qualitative information on the perspectives of the LTs. This type of data provides richer and fuller information regarding their thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and desires. Results from this qualitative portion are not yet available for presentation.

• LTs in Guatemala need more AAC knowledge that is applicable to their cultural, educational, and economic structure, and more available resources. They are ready and interested in gaining this knowledge.

• Next steps include coding and analyzing participant interview data, to further understanding of Guatemalan LTs’ perspectives, needs, knowledge and resources.

• The information gathered from both the quantitative and qualitative results will inform future training activities. The aim is to provide LTs in Guatemala with foundational knowledge about AAC and supporting the communication development of those with little to no functional communication.

• It is hoped that increasing foundational knowledge and understanding of AAC principles will help Guatemalan LT’s best serve those in their community with complex communication needs.

The Perspectives of Speech Therapists in Guatemala Regarding AACAmy Pfeil, Kathryn Drager, and Amanda Blackwell

Intro

Method

Results The Language Therapists

Future DirectionsThis figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that target the listed areas of focus during AAC intervention. Numbers in parenthesis note the n for each column.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that reported a particular level of knowledge they perceived themselves to have about AAC on a 5-point scale from none at all to a great deal.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that ranked the listed possible barriers as one of the top 6 greatest barriers (out of 12) to AAC use. Numbers in parenthesis note the n for each column.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that have implemented the types of AAC listed. Numbers in parenthesis note the n for each column.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that reported a particular interest level regarding learning more about AAC on a 5-point scale from not interested to extremely interested.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that acquired AAC knowledge by means of the listed resources. Numbers in parenthesis note the n for each column.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that reported a particular availability of classes they had on AAC during the collegiate education, on a 5-point scale from none to many.

This figure illustrates the percentages of surveyed LTs that work with the listed populations. Numbers in parenthesis note the n for each column.

Disclosure/References

It is estimated that there is one LT for every 300,000 people in Guatemala.

• Recruitment: Participants were obtained through a recruitment email. A listserv for Guatemalan LTs interested in continued education (a network of LTs built through Blackwell’s work in Guatemala) was used to reach potential participants. Emails were sent to 200 individuals. A total of 26 respondents met the inclusion criteria, of which 23 participants submitted the survey.

Amy Pfeil and Kathryn Drager have no relevant financial or non-financial relationships to disclose.

Amanda Blackwell has no relevant financial relationship to disclose; Nonfinancial- President of the Guatemalan Association of Speech Therapists.

Dr. Blackwell receives no compensation for this.

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