Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Child crime victims have the difficult task of telling an adult to receive help and justice.
This is difficult for any child but even more so for young children and children with
disabilities. This is amplified through a lack of adaptations of interview techniques for
these children. Adaptations like augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
are not recommended to use in legal contexts because of the lack of research (Swedish
Prosecution Authority, 2022).
The AAC project at the department of psychology at the university of Gothenburg has
investigated methods to adapt interviews to give more children the chance to make
their voice heard. Specifically, the project aims at investigating communication boards
as AAC.
Four different studies aim to investigate:

• How different age groups interpret graphic symbols
• If different age groups can use communication boards to describe events
• If communication boards are leading for preschool children
• If communication boards affect accuracy and detailedness of preschool
  children’s statements
• What children with disabilities, their legal guardians and teachers think of
  different AAC methods
• What possibilities and risks practitioners at Barnahus see with communication
  boards in child forensic interviews
  

The AAC material used for this study was the research-adapted version of Reda ut
häftet by Dart (VGR, 2025) as it is recommended by Västra Götalandsregionen for
talking with children about violence.

I presented the randomized controlled trial which tested communication boards in
interviews with preschoolers at the 13th Nordic Conference on Child Abuse and
Neglect. Participants partook in an interactive activity about which they were later
interviewed. The interview roughly followed the NICHD protocol and was either a verbal
interview or an interview with communication boards. In interviews with
communication boards the child could either point to the communication boards to
answer, answer verbally or both. Children could also complete developmental tasks
testing theory of mind and inhibition ability. In total 143 children were interviewed (64
AAC, 79 verbal). A qualitative analysis on a subsample (N=14) that were interviewed
with AAC. Themes found through inductive thematic analysis were Engagement,
Disengagement and Taking short breaks. Engagement entails that the communication
boards caught the children’s attention immediately. During the interview children were
“locked in” on the task and used communication boards to communicate.
Disengagement is characterized by children not wanting to be interviewed or stopping
the interview midway. The theme taking short breaks includes that the child’s gaze
shifted away from the communication boards but also that children started moving
around the room. Short breaks entail as well that children by themselves shifted their
focus back to the communication boards to continue the interview after their short
break.
Across studies we received feedback that the communication boards had many and
abstract symbols which could be overwhelming and difficult to understand for young
children and children with disabilities.
Analyses of detailedness, type of details and correctness between the AAC and verbal
interviews are planned. Further, we will analyze possible connections between
developmental abilities and answers to leading questions. These analyses are ongoing
and will be published when completed.

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References

Swedish Prosecution Authority. (2022). Barnförhör m.m. Även något om förhör med
vuxna med osynliga funktionsnedsättningar (Rättslig vägledning 2022:3).
https://www.aklagare.se/globalassets/dokument/rattsligavagledningar/rav-2022-03-forhor-med-barn-och-vuxna-med-osynligafunktionsnedsattningar.pdf
VGR. (2025, April 8). Bilder som stöd i samtal om våld [Images as support in
conversations about violence]. https://www.vgregion.se/ov/dart/fardigtmaterial/samtal-om-vald/. Västra Götalandsregionen