Telepractice and AAC parent coaching during Spanish storybook reading

Abstract

Despite growing evidence supporting caregiver coaching in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), Spanish-speaking families remain substantially underrepresented in intervention research evaluating communication partner training. To address this gap, this study evaluated the effects of a Spanish-language telepractice caregiver coaching program on a Spanish-speaking caregiver’s use of communication partner strategies (CPS) during shared storybook reading with a child with complex communication needs. Although a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline across participants single-case experimental design was originally planned, recruitment challenges resulted in a single participant completing the study. The program consisted of a 58-minute caregiver training session followed by six individualized 10–15-minute coaching sessions delivered via telepractice. Caregiver use of CPS during shared storybook reading served as the dependent variable, and intervention effects were evaluated using visual analysis and quantitative indices. Following the program, the participant demonstrated increased use of targeted communication partner strategies, with a Percentage of Nonoverlapping Data (PND) of 100%, indicating a strong intervention effect. Although findings are limited to a single participant, they are consistent with previous research involving English-speaking families and suggest that Spanish-language telepractice caregiver coaching may represent a feasible and clinically meaningful approach for expanding culturally and linguistically responsive AAC services for Spanish-speaking families of children with complex commun