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502 CHAPTER 16 Working with research participants with disabilities

necessary accommodation for people who are Deaf (meaning that they are a part
of Deaf culture and primarily use sign language). It is important to note that
people who identify as Hard of hearing may not be sign language users.
If multiple researchers are fluent in the relevant sign language, that may be suf-
ficient, but often, it may be necessary to bring in sign language interpreters, to ensure
full communication with your participants. For instance, Shiver and Wolfe (2015)
brought in sign language facilitators (who were themselves Deaf), to lead interviews
with Deaf participants via videophone. Typically, sign language interpreters are
brought in as pairs (e.g., so that they can substitute for each other and take breaks),
but if there are multiple Deaf people taking part in multiple conversations at the same
time, multiple interpreters may be necessary. Or if there is a presentation that will
be made to a large number of people as a part of the research, perhaps real-time
captioning (CART) might be a useful addition to sign language interpretation. If tele-
conferencing or telepresence will be involved in the research, and the group is mixed
both in terms of hearing and in terms of physical location, we suggest that the reader
consult (Vogler et al., 2013) for detailed advice. It is important to note that there are
many different national sign languages (e.g., American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign
Language, Mexican Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language, etc.) which may be
relevant depending on the participants and geographic location. However, it is NOT
sufficient to say that researchers can just write messages on paper and text messages to
their Deaf participants. That would be insulting and rude, to ask for the participation
of Deaf participants, without ensuring that sign language interpreters will be present.

16.2.5 COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE WITH MODERATE
TO SEVERE SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS

It is important to consider that some participants may have moderate to severe
speech impairments and be unable to communicate orally (note that we are not
including people who can communicate using sign language in this classifica-
tion). Some of these people may simply be using an Augmentative and alternative
communication (AAC) device. AAC devices are primarily used to allow people with
communication challenges, to communicate more effectively using selection de-
vices and computer-synthesized speech output. It is important to determine what the
expressive language skills are, of potential participants, and then plan for multiple
possible approaches for communication. Plan for participants to use AAC, and also
think about whether more of the data collection should be in written format, where
participants can fill out surveys or time diaries over a period of time, rather than be
rushed to fill out text on the spot (Mahmud and Martens, 2015).
Be aware that because someone has challenges with speaking or expressive
language skills, that does not necessarily mean that they have challenges with un-
derstanding spoken language (receptive language skills). In their study of an email
application designed specifically for people with Aphasia, Mahmud and Martens
(2015) note that there are two general kinds of Aphasia: nonfluent Aphasia and flu-
ent Aphasia. People with fluent Aphasia have trouble with language comprehension,