Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to understand what is known about the friendships of individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. Because communication is important to friendship, severe communication impairment may impact the establishment or maintenance of friendships in unique and important ways.
Method: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for scoping reviews and Covidence software using an established set of operationally defined inclusion criteria supported the identification of the 46 papers included in this review. Included papers presented original data on the friendships of individuals with disabilities (acquired and developmental) who could benefit from AAC across the lifespan. Data were extracted to identify features of the body of literature and to identify themes that could inform future research and clinical practice.
Results: Themes identified from the included studies related to how friendship is defined, supports for friendship formation and maintenance, help and care in friendships, positive outcomes, barriers, the impact of AAC, and recommendations for moving clinical practice and research forward.
Conclusions: Friendships are chosen relationships that stem from congruences in perspectives between two individuals. People who use AAC, like the broader population, are likely to seek out and maintain friendships with people who are similar to them: people who share personality traits, past experiences (including experiencing disability), interests, and activities. Creative solutions are needed to increase the independence of disabled children and adults to meet and engage with new people with a variety of lived experiences.
Supplemental material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.28119857.