People use nonverbal ways of communicating every day—from sending a text message to waving at a friend. Nonspeaking and minimally speaking individuals rely partially or fully on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to make themselves heard.
In recognition of AAC Awareness Month, we’re highlighting articles from across the ASHA Journals in a pair of posts that can help you in your work or research with people who use AAC. Read on for some new information and ideas as you help people with AAC develop vocabulary and use it to interact with people around them.
Vocabulary and Socialization in AAC
Value Added by Assessing Nonspoken Vocabulary in Minimally Speaking Autistic Children: Typical vocabulary assessments can miss the ways that children communicate using gestures, pictures, and other nonspoken methods. By using gestures and AAC devices as part of a language evaluation, you can get a more complete picture of a child’s vocabulary.
We All Need at Least One Friend Who Understands What We Do Not Say: A Scoping Review of Friendship and Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Like the broader population, people who use AAC are likely to seek out and maintain friendships with people similar to them, including others with disabilities. Learn more about how to encourage individuals who use AAC to meet and engage with new people.
Communication, Socialization, and Literacy for Adults With Developmental Disabilities: An Interview Study of Parents’ Perspectives and Experiences: Adults with developmental disabilities may have difficulties with socialization and literacy—a situation creating unique challenges in postsecondary education. Learn how you can use AAC and other tools to provide individualized and consistent support for these individuals.
How Well Do Communication Profiles at 2 Years of Age Predict Outcomes at 9–10 Years of Age in Children With Cerebral Palsy? Most children with cerebral palsy experience communication impairments—these can vary from mild to profound. This study found that a child’s communication abilities at 2 years old can help predict future communication outcomes, helping you plan future speech and language intervention.
More AAC Resources
As we honor the important role that you serve in helping people who use AAC to communicate, we hope that you’ll take some time to advocate for the many people who can benefit from AAC. By talking about AAC (and how we all use it every day!), you can help end stigmatization and match individuals with tools that steer them toward success!
Stay tuned later this month when we cover more topics in AAC! We look forward to sharing more resources to help you provide high-quality care.
