“Juntos pudimos, juntos podemos”: learning from hispanic caregiver perspectives on AAC service delivery

Families engaging with AAC bring diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds that influence how services and systems are experienced. In the United States, Hispanic families constitute a rapidly growing population whose voices and experiences are still rarely reflected in AAC research. The present work explored the perspectives of six Hispanic mothers regarding their children’s AAC services and system design. A phenomenological approach was used to capture mothers’ lived experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in English or Spanish, depending on the participant’s preference, and then transcribed, translated, and thematically analyzed using the Braun & Clarke thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified. Navigating AAC services irrespective of cultural responsiveness described systemic challenges such as limited provider training, financial barriers, and families managing AAC independently. The role of culture in service delivery reflected how values such as familismo, personalismo, and respeto shaped mothers’ perspectives. Cultural and linguistic considerations in AAC system design addressed visual representation, voice output, unique vocabulary, and dual-language navigation. The findings of the study contribute to conversations regarding AAC service delivery by documenting how cultural values and linguistic diversity shape family engagement with services and design features of communication systems.