| Research into team-based services in the schools for students with complex
communication needs (CCN) shows uneven implementation of best practice principles for team-
based intervention. A convenience sample of 62 school-based SLPs was surveyed about their
collaborative experiences in the school setting, with questions specific to (a) the number of
collaborators and from which professions they came; (b) the frequency at which SLPs speak with
their collaborators, and (c) the tools SLPs and their collaborators use to communicate and
organize. Results from descriptive statistics, correlations, and binomial logistic regressions
revealed the following: SLPs have an average of 6.46 collaborators; SLPs with larger AAC
caseloads have fewer collaborators; SLPs collaborate most frequently with special education
teachers, paraprofessionals, and occupational therapists; SLPs are more satisfied with
collaboration when they have fewer collaborators; caseload size was not predictive of how
frequently SLPs spoke with any collaborator. This study adds to the sizeable body of existing
research on barriers to effective clinical practice for AAC in the schools, as well as provides
additional support for use of a workload model in the schools.
Key Words: augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), interprofessional
collaboration, school-based services |