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"In the broadest sense, the goals of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions are to support individuals with complex communication needs in 1) developing, maintaining, or regaining their communication effectiveness and 2) enhancing their participation in daily life."
(Beukelman & Light, 2020)
At its most basic level, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is anything that helps a person communicate when traditional spoken or written forms of communication don’t meet that person’s needs.
AAC systems can range from expanded use of natural gestures and sign language to light tech systems like pictures and communication books to high tech speech generating devices like dedicated devices and iPads.
An estimated 5 million Americans and 97 million persons worldwide cannot reliably meet their daily communication needs using natural speech and may benefit from AAC to increase participation in their communities (Beukleman & Light, 2020)
While some might only think of using AAC with “nonverbal” children, clinically, AAC has proven to be of great value to young children with emerging verbal skills as well as to children who are functionally nonspeaking (Scott, 1998)