title: Enhancing social participation in young people with communication disabilities living in rural Australia: outcomes of a home-based intervention for using social media.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a home-based intervention using social media to enhance social networks of young people with disabilities and communication difficulties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight young people (M(age) = 15.4 years) with communication disabilities participated from two rural Australian towns. The intervention provided assistive technology and training to learn social media use. A mixed-method design combined pre- and post-assessments measuring changes in performance, satisfaction with performance, attainment on social media goals, and social network extension, and interviews investigated the way in which the intervention influenced social participation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants showed an increase in performance, and satisfaction with performance, on the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure; paired t-tests showed statistical significance at p <0.01. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks revealed a significant increase in the number of online communication partners, p <0.05. The interviews highlighted participants' and parents' perceptions of increased social connections, improved communication frequency and nature, and speech intelligibility and literacy as a result of the intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that learning to use social media leads to increase in social participation among rural-based young people with communication disabilities. In order to benefit from advantages of learning to use social media in rural areas, parents and service providers need knowledge and skills to integrate assistive technology with the Internet needs of this group.
authors.affiliation: Disability & Community Inclusion, School of Health Sciences, Flinders University , Adelaide , Australia .
authors.forename: Parimala
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raghavendra
authors.forename: Lareen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D012424:Rural Population; D061108:Social Media; D060756:Social Networking; D058992:Social Participation
keywords: Adolescents; assistive technology; information and computer technology; social networks; young adults