Current practice and support needs in smart media perceived by the mothers of children with communication difficulties

Objectives: Smart media such as smartphones and tablet PCs have rapidly become mainstream for the last decade. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the current practices and support needs in the language therapy services perceived by the mothers of children with communication difficulties with the basis of using smart media contents for communication skill improvements. Methods: A questionnaire was developed to examine the areas parents think of their children's communication difficulties and to explore the types of smart media usage and desirable contents of smart media for their children's communication needs examined. One hundred and seventy-five mothers of children with communication difficulties participated in the survey. Results: Results indicated that smart phones were the most frequently used tools for their children's communication improvements, followed by computers (e.g., desktop or laptop computers) and tablet PCs. The mothers of children with cerebral palsy wanted the contents generating sentences and speeches to be developed the most; while other groups of mothers wanted the contents for interaction skills. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that the children of this smart generation and their parents are very interested in the possibility of using smart media as a tool for their child communication improvement. The support needs across disabilities need to be considered to develop smart media contents for communication interventions.