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How to Incorporate AAC at Home and in the Community
Lauren S. Enders, MA., CCC-SLPAugmentative Communication
Consultant/Assistive Technology Consultant
Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22
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Best Ways to Support the Development of Effective Communication
Skills
Presumption of Competence
Use of Aided Language Stimulation (Teaching use of AAC by
MODELING use of AAC)
Prompt only when absolutely necessary, following prompt
hierarchy
Provision of real communication opportunities (not
justrequesting of wants and needs)
Lauren S. Enders, MA, CCC-SLP January 2014
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What are the prerequisites for beginning use of AAC?
“We have discovered increasingly that
communication has only one
prerequisite; and it has nothing
to do with mental age,
chronological age, mathematical formulae,
or any other models that have
been developed to decide who is
a candidate and who is not.
That is because breathing is
the only prerequisite that is
relevant to communication”-‐ Pat
Mirenda, 1992
NONE
Lauren S. Enders, MA, CCC-SLP January 2014
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www.PrAACticalAAC.org
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http://praacticalaac.org/praactical/modeling-aac-style/
AIDED LANGUAGE INPUT
http://www.aacinstitute.org/aactionpoints/130627AidedLanguageStimulationResource.pdf
DEFINITION -‐ (www.aacins2tute.org)Aided
language s,mula,on (ALS) is a
communica,on strategy, where a
communica,on partner teaches symbol
meaning and models language by
combining his or her own verbal
input with selec,on of vocabulary
on the Augmenta,ve and Alterna,ve
Communica,on (AAC) system. This is
done by simultaneously selec,ng
vocabulary on the AAC system
and speaking.Comprehension and communica,on
on the AAC system are promoted
through modeled use of visual
icons/graphic symbol and providing
the corresponding verbal label.
Learners are prompted to use
symbols to communicate within context
of mo,va,ng, frequently occurring
rou,nes by incorpora,on of ,me
delays, sabotage of rou,nes, and/or
the use of verbal cues. Prompts
are faded as the AAC user
gains proficiency.
Lauren S. Enders, MA, CCC-SLP January 2014
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Lauren S. Enders, MA, CCC-SLP January 2014
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Lauren S. Enders, MA, CCC-SLP January 2014
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Created by Lauren Enders with content by Lauren Enders, Pat
Mervine, Melissa Skocypec, & Cathie VanAlstine - February
2013
DON'T
Getting AAC Users COMMUNICATINGAAC BOOT CAMP
keep the AAC system in their desk, cubby, or backpack
DON'T
DON'T
DON'T re-prompt too quickly
DON'T
DON'Tremove the deviceDON'T
DON'T stop all "babbling" (exploring, button pressing)
move symbols
DON'T
DON'T do this......
do ALL the talkingoverprompt
DON'TDON'T
DON'T provide ONLY nouns
teach ONLY requesting
expect sentences right away
focus on words that are not functional/won't be used
tomorrow
DO this......
FOLLOW prompt hierarchy
PROVIDE CORE WORDS including verbs & describing words
TEACH language functionsincluding directing, commenting,
!requesting assistance, etc...
WAIT 10-20 sec. (w/an expectant look) BEFORE re-prompting!!
Count in your head!!
COLOR CODE parts of speech(in addition to nouns)
KEEP icon placement constant always keep repeated icons in the
same!location on each page/screen
ALLOW user time to explore and learn their system
PROVIDE Aided Language Input
MAKE AAC available at ALL times
PRESUME COMPETENCE
ASK open-ended questions
NOT JUST WANTS AND NEEDS
talk to users while pointing to key words/icons
expect a user to know how to communicate w/o direct models &
instruction
DON'T MODEL MODEL MODELmodel expected communication!behaviors
BEFORE expecting!to see those behaviors from the user
Lauren S. Enders, MA, CCC-SLP January 2014
