AUGMENTATIVE ALTERNATIVE

COMMUNICATION
By Anam Jamil
 Role Play
Tell your partner about what you had for lunch

WITHOUT speaking
WITHOUT using signs
WITHOUT drawing
WITHOUT writing
 NOW
Use gestures/ signs to communicate

NOW
Use drawings to communicate
How do we Communicate?
Communication may be:
Intentional or unintentional
Conventional or unconventional signals
Linguistic or nonlinguistic forms
And may occur through spoken or other
modes.
(National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities)
 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
ORAL COMMUNICATION
• Interacting with others primarily through spoken verbal
interaction.
TOTAL COMMUNICATION
• This form of communication can be beneficial as it incorporates
verbal communication with sign language skills.
AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION
• A number of communication boards at varying levels which can
benefit a child in communicating wants/needs from the simplest
of a yes/no answer to voice output of complex sentences.
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION
Telephone systems
Cordless systems
IP systems (Information Processing systems)
Voice Mail
VOCA (Voice Output Communication Aid)
Computer
Audio Visual Equipments
 Purpose of Communication
To express an emotion or interact with
someone
To indirectly control the environment
To obtain or reject something
To regulate social interactions
To receive and convey information and
ideas
 Augmentative and Alternative
Communication
 All children have the right to express what they want and
how they feel. But this is not always easy to do.
 Some children may not be able to speak clearly enough
for everyone to understand them, while others may not be
able to speak at all.
 For these children, telling people how they feel or what they
want may be among the most difficult things they have to
do.
 Through Augmentative and Alternative Communication
(AAC) parents and caregivers can help children with
communication difficulties find ways to express what they
are thinking, wanting, or needing.
 What Is Augmentative and Alternative
Communication?
“Augmentative and Alternative communication (AAC) is any
strategy that helps a child/adult participate and communicate
better with the listener.”
 Some strategies may be as simple as having a child point to a
picture and use a gesture or begin with some basic sign
language. For example, a child might point to a picture of
juice and then point to herself, telling you she wants to drink
juice.
 As communication develops, the number, type, and
complexity of the picture symbols can be expanded.
 These devices can be low tech such as a "communication
board" or high tech such as a VOCA
What is Augmentative and
Alternative Communication (AAC)?
It is an area of clinical practice that attempts to
improve or compensate (either temporarily or
permanently) for the impairment and disability
patterns and communication skills of
individuals with severe expressive communication
disorders .
(i.e. the severely speech-language and writing
impaired)
- A.S.H.A.
TYPES OF AAC SYSTEMS
Unaided communication systems – rely on the user's
body to convey messages. Examples include gestures,
body language, and/or sign language.
Aided communication systems – require the use of
tools or equipment in addition to the user's body. Aided
communication methods can range from paper and
pencil to communication books or boards to devices that
produce voice output (speech generating devices or
SGD's)and/or written output. Electronic communication
aids allow the user to use picture symbols, letters, and/or
words and phrases to create messages. Some devices can
be programmed to produce different spoken languages.
 Who uses AAC?
Individuals with:
Cerebral palsy – Developmental Neuromotor Disorder
Autism – Neurodevelopmental disorder
Developmental apraxia of speech – Planning, Processing,
Execution
Mental retardation
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – Progressive disease of motor
neurons of brain & spinal cord
Multiple sclerosis - degenerative disease due to destruction of
the myelin sheath
Traumatic brain injury
Stroke
Things to consider when selecting alternative\communication

Age
Diagnosis
Needs
Physical Development
Cognitive Development
Environment
Family Support
Access method
Lifestyle
Behaviors
Who can benefit ?
Anyone whose speech is non functional
Motivated to communicate
Accepting alternate methods of
communication
Receptive Language should be strong
enough to follow one step commands
 When to Begin Augmentative and
Alternative Communication
 It is important to begin AAC as early as possible. Even if
your child is already receiving speech and language
therapy, he can still benefit from AAC services.
 Remember the goal of AAC is to help your child begin
communicating with you. It is important to know that
even though a child may begin to use pictures to tell
you what he wants or a computer that can produce
speech, it does not stop him from learning to speak.
 Research has found that when a child begins learning
to tell someone what he needs or want, it is easier to
work on his speech sounds and to expand his ability to
communicate.
 Case Discussion
 Age = 54 year old man
 TBI
 Understanding appropriate
 Intelligible at single word level with 80% accuracy
 Gets frustrated when people can’t understand him
 Worked as a the head of an IT company
 Education MSC Computer Studies

 Would you use an AAC device?

 References
AAC Institute. www.aacinstitute.org
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
Connecting Young Kids (YAACK).
http://aac.unl.edu/yaack/.
DynaVox. www.dynavoxtech.com
Easter Seals Crossroads.
www.eastersealscrossroads.org
Miranda, P. & Iacono, T. (2009). Autism Spectrum
Disorders and AAC.
Prentke Romich, Co. www.prentrom.com