Analysis on needs based survey of parents and speech-language pathologists for smartphone programs

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the needs of parents and speech language pathologists (SLPs) when developing mobile-based contents as intervention tools for children with communication disorders. Methods: Questionnaires were developed through preceding research; assessment tools and reference data from Statistic Korea were verified by two professionals for validity and suitability. The survey was conducted in person, by mail, or online format. A total of 189 of questionnaires were chosen for analysis (96 families of children with communication disorders and 93 SLPs). Results: More than half of the 189 subjects responded that they have used smartphone applications to improve the communication skills of a child. Educational content for parents is highly desired by both parents and SLPs, while the parent group needed more quantitative information about proper utterances for themselves as conversation partners. And while parents highly desired educational material, most interactions between them and their SLPS were consultation-based. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that a follow-up study is needed to provide communication care service via smartphone applications for speech-language intervention.