The Effects of Reading Personal Narratives Written by an Individual Who Uses AAC on the Attitudes of Pre-Professionals in Business

A Solomon Four-Group Design was used to study the effects of reading personal narratives written by an individual with complex communication needs on the attitudes, potential future behaviors, and general experiences of 109 undergraduate business majors. The Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Persons Scal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Augmentative and alternative communication 2010-06, Vol.26 (2), p.61-74
Main Authors: McCarthy, John W., Donofrio-Horwitz, Lacey M., Smucker, Laura M. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitude
Attitude change
Augmentative and alternative communication
Commerce - education
Communication
Communication Aids for Disabled - psychology
Emotions
Female
Humans
Models, Psychological
Narration
Reading
Work
Young Adult
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Summary:A Solomon Four-Group Design was used to study the effects of reading personal narratives written by an individual with complex communication needs on the attitudes, potential future behaviors, and general experiences of 109 undergraduate business majors. The Attitudes Toward Nonspeaking Persons Scale (ATNP) and a scale of behavioral intentions modeled according to Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior were used as dependent variables. A sub-group of individuals in the experimental group participated in individual follow-up interviews. Results revealed individuals who read the narratives had more positive attitudes than those who did not; however, there were potentially reactive effects for pre-testing evident on one subscale of the ATNP scale. Interviews revealed a need for more explicit information about the workings of AAC and a need to change expectations about working with individuals with disabilities.
ISSN:0743-4618
1477-3848
DOI:10.3109/07434618.2010.481562