Everyone communicates. Communicating with others gives us connection and control in our lives. There are many ways to communicate - with facial expression, gestures, and with words and sentences. A key factor to successful communication is having language. Language gives us the words and ways to share our own thoughts and ideas, desires and wishes.
Are you new to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), or looking for information about how to transition from PECS, or you’re new to Proloquo2Go?
Would you like to give your child the means to communicate more fully? Follow these recommendations to take them from requesting to a full communication system.
Implementing Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is not easy. Learn more about what to do and what not to do when helping your child or student become an effective communicator.
AssistiveWare’s David Niemeijer and Jane Farrall teamed up on a Do’s and Don’ts of AAC Poster for International AAC Awareness Month. This blog explores one of the Do/Don’t pairs.
AAC users should be able to say what they want, when they want, so they must have access to their AAC system all the time! The rest of the team also needs fast and instant access to the AAC system. How else will they model?
We all use many different ways to communicate. Often AAC users will use the fastest and most efficient means of communication available to them in the moment. Respect every mode of communication, as it all plays a part in becoming effective communicators!
We can all understand the concept that AAC users may not learn how to effectively use their AAC system for communication if they do not see it used regularly and reliably by others in their world. The best way that we can support our AAC user is the use the AAC system to talk yourself!
Are your questions open or closed? In any environment where questions occur naturally, like in classrooms, it is essential that open-ended questions are used for AAC users. It allows language to be modeled and gives AAC users the opportunity to learn to say what they think and feel.
We all know that the best practice for teaching AAC is Modelling or Aided Language Stimulation. We can all understand that AAC users will learn how to effectively use their AAC system when they see it used regularly and reliably by others in their world. So how do we model?
