Augmentative & Alternative Communication
(AAC)
What is AAC?
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to all the ways someone communicates besides talking. Augmentative means to supplement verbal speech and alternative means to be used instead of verbal speech. AAC includes no tech and low tech tools such as gestures, facial expressions, writing, drawing, and pointing to pictures. AAC also includes high tech speech generating devices (SGDs), such as communication software on tablets or computers that produce speech.
Who can benefit from AAC?
Children and adults of all ages can benefit from AAC. In fact, we all use some form of AAC every day- without even knowing! When you wave to a neighbor or point to something in the distance, you are using no-tech AAC. Specific populations that may rely on AAC more frequently include those with developmental disabilities (e.g., Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy), motor speech disorders (e.g., Apraxia of Speech, Dysarthria), Progressive Neurodegenerative Disorders (e.g., ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease) and acquired cognitive/language disorders (secondary to a medical event such as stroke).
Where do I start?
Give us a call! The process of determining the right AAC system, acquiring the device, learning how to use and customize it, and train caregivers and school teams can be overwhelming. At Communication through Connection, we use a comprehensive feature matching process to determine the most appropriate system for our clients based on individual communication, medical, educational and personal needs. We work with device vendors and insurance to trial and obtain the recommended communication device.