Purpose: Although research and international clinical practice guidelines recommend that bilingual children with communication disorders receive intervention in all their languages, most studies of bilingual intervention have focused on spoken language. Beyond expert recommendations, there is limited empirical research on how augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can be implemented bilingually. This article investigates the beliefs and practices of bilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Catalunya, a bilingual region in northeastern Spain, in evaluating, teaching, and supporting bilingual individuals who use AAC. Method: Six SLPs participated in semistructured interviews regarding their beliefs and practices in teaching AAC to bilingual users in Catalunya. Results: Thematic analysis identified four overarching themes: (1) bilingual AAC users, monolingual AAC systems; (2) communication transcends individual languages; (3) systemic barriers to bilingual AAC; and (4) collaboration with family and communication partners is essential. Although considered bilingual, the AAC users served by these SLPs have AAC systems in only one language, thus limiting their access to all the languages of their family and community. This finding may reflect a combination of ideas about language and communication among AAC users; limited access to resources, technology, and professional training on bilingual AAC; and other systemic constraints. Despite the lack of multilingual AAC systems, the SLPs actively engage families and other communication partners as key collaborators and show respect for home languages, whether Castilian Spanish, Catalan, or another language. Conclusion: The findings indicate that barriers exist to implementing bilingual AAC, even in highly bilingual communities, and even when individual practitioners respect and value their clients' home language(s) and bilingual identities.
Salisbury-Ferguson et al. (Tue,) studied this question.