55 Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC) Systems
Definition
Communication systems that are used alongside (augmentative) or in place of (alternative) spoken and/or written communication, particularly for students with difficulties in speech-language production and/or comprehension.
In action
Teacher provides aids for individuals with speech-language difficulties to support their communication abilities, including equipment, technology, training, and ongoing support.
Support Strategies
- If the student does not have AAC, but could use it, work with the student’s educational team to conduct an AAC assessment to determine the best fit between AAC and student needs
- Teach necessary school/activity vocabulary to enable student engagement
- Provide ongoing training and learning support to student in the use of their AAC system
- Provide training and support to other school personnel, student’s family members, and classmates in use of the AAC system.
- Ensure that the AAC system is equipped to meet the appropriate language needs of school activities for student participation
- Incorporate and encourage AAC use across all school and home activities
- Monitor AAC usage including successes and barriers and work with the educational team to ensure best fit and decide on AAC-related learning goals and support needs.
Case Study
Student: Kindergarten student learning the alphabet.
Content: The teacher is practicing the alphabet song with the class.
Problem: While the student can comprehend verbal communicating, they are having difficulty participating in singing the alphabet due to their speech-language production challenges.
Solution: While teaching the class the alphabet song, the teacher uses sign language for each of the letters to help students with all speaking abilities to participate.
Additional Resources
- Exhaustive resource describing AAC and considerations for school use from WATI
- Article on augmentative and alternative communication for young children including sample videos from EBIP
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association webpage describing augmentative and alternative communication
- AAC basics and links to more resources from ISAAC
- AAC and assessment info from CTNSY
- ASHS position statement describing the issues with Rapid Prompting and Facilitated Communication systems
