Missing methods and epistemic injustice: a scoping review of qualitative research with AAC users

Abstract

Users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) have been historically left out of research. Within knowledge production, we see a prioritisation of the spoken voice in a hierarchy that at worst excludes, and at best subjugates, mediated voices. This scoping review sought studies involving AAC users as research participants, to identify practical lessons that could help inform data collection strategies to address this gap. We identified several common logistical and ethical considerations, organising them into three ­overarching themes that require additional attention from researchers working with AAC users, specifically: timescales, communication partners, and personal agency. In documenting that AAC-friendly methods are missing from the literature, we relocate the problem of AAC users’ exclusion from qualitative research from the inability of individuals with complex communication needs to participate in research, to individual and institutional inability or unwillingness to design and fund data collection practices that suit the needs of AAC users.