2019 TASH Conference

Although substantial strides have been made to develop effective interventions to improve outcomes for children and youth who have complex communication needs (i.e., unable to use verbal speech to meet daily communication needs), a well-documented research-to-practice gap remains. A number of different factors influence this research-to-practice gap, with issues related to social validity likely being among the most important. Social validity involves the significance of intervention goals, acceptability of procedures, and impact of outcomes, as perceived by key stakeholders' such as parents and family members, educators, service providers, and children themselves. To bridge the research-to-practice gap and ensure that interventions are both effective and socially valid (e.g., acceptable, significant), concerted efforts must be made to understand and address the perspectives of diverse stakeholders. Doing so can increase the likelihood that research-based interventions actually make a sustained and meaningful impact on the lives of children and youth in real schools and communities. In this presentation, we will share the aim, method, findings, and implications from research focused on engaging diverse stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the significance, acceptability, and impact of interventions for children and youth with complex communication needs. Our work directly relates to this year's theme "Building Diverse and Inclusive Communities" because we recognize that developing and implementing interventions that actually make an impact on children's communication access, opportunity to thrive, and inclusion in their schools and communities must include input from the unique perspectives and experiences of diverse stakeholders.