Communicative participation with public authorities: Experiences of people with aphasia, people who stutter, and employees of public authorities.

Introduction: Several studies have examined the communicative participation of people with communication disorders (PWCD). Hindering and facilitating factors were analyzed in different population groups considering various private and public communication contexts. However, knowledge about (a) the experiences of persons with different communication disorders, (b) communication with public authorities, and (c) the perspective of communication partners in this area remains limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the communicative participation of PWCD with public authorities. We analyzed communicative experiences (hindering and facilitating factors) and suggestions for improving communicative access described by persons with aphasia (PWA) and persons who stutter (PWS) as well as by employees of public authorities (EPA).

Methods: In semi-structured interviews, PWA (n = 8), PWS (n = 9), and EPA (n = 11) reported specific communicative encounters with public authorities. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, focusing on hindering/facilitating experiences and suggestions for improvement.

Results: The personal experiences of the participants during authority encounters were represented by the interwoven themes of familiarity and awareness, attitudes and behavior, and support and autonomy. The perspectives of the three groups overlap in several areas; however, the results also indicate specific differences between PWA and PWS as well as between PWCD and EPA.

Conclusion: The results indicate a need to improve awareness/knowledge about communication disorders and communicative behavior in EPA. Moreover, PWCD should actively engage in encounters with authorities. In both groups, awareness must be raised about how each communication partner can contribute to successful communication, and avenues to achieve this goal must be demonstrated.