• Ann R Beck, James R Thompson, Kullaya Kosuwan, and Jessica M Prochnow.
• 4100 College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4100, USA. arbeck@ilstu.edu
• J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res. 2010 Jun 1; 53 (3): 572-87.

PurposeStudy 1 developed the Assessment of Attitudes Toward Augmentative and Alternative Communication-2 (AATAAC-2) to assess adolescents' attitudes toward peers who use AAC. Study 2 used the AATAAC-2 to examine influences of familiarity with people with disabilities; type of AAC device; and various combinations of gender of rater, AAC user, and communication partner on adolescents' attitudes.MethodIn Study 1, 194 adolescents viewed videotapes depicting adolescents using AAC, then completed AATAAC-2. Study 2 utilized 8 videotapes depicting 4 different gender combinations of AAC user and communication partner as experimental stimuli. Each gender combination was filmed twice: once with a static touch screen device, and once with a dynamic touch screen device. One-hundred thirty-six adolescents were randomly assigned to view 1 of the 8 videos. Participants then completed AATAAC-2.ResultsStudy 1 demonstrated that AATAAC-2 has adequate psychometric properties. Raters' responses in Study 2 indicated no main effect of device type; girls were more positive than boys; and familiarity with peers with disabilities was associated with more positive attitudes. No 2-way interactions were significant; 3-way interaction of level of familiarity, gender, and type of device used was significant.ConclusionsFamiliarity and gender contribute to adolescents' attitudes; type of AAC device combined with these factors to influence attitudes.

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