October is AAC Awareness Month and here at Seashell we want to use this time to celebrate and raise awareness. Seashell Speech and Language Therapist, Sarah has written a blog with a focus on the amazing range of strategies that our students use to communicate.

AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Augmentative meaning enhancing or supplementing speech and Alternative meaning used instead of speech.

Examples of AAC can include:

  • Sign language
  • Facial expression
  • Body language
  • Gesture
  • Pictures and symbols
  • Electronic communication devices

The Speech and Language Therapists here at Seashell work with the children and young adults, and the team around them, to ensure that the right strategies are being implemented and modelled to help these individuals to communicate as effectively as possible, in as many situations as possible.

10 tips for AAC!

  1. Model, model, model! When you use AAC, you demonstrate to the individual how they can communicate. For example, with a communication book, point to the symbols whilst saying the key words. Model all types of communication, including requests, comments and questions.
  2. Make it fun! Be playful and creative and tap into the individual’s interests. This will help motivate them to communicate. 
  3. Wait, watch and listen. Allow the child/young person time to process and think about what you have said, as well as time to respond. Pausing is a natural part of communication.
  4. Ensure the AAC is available, always! If the individual’s AAC system is not to hand, they can’t use it! Consistent access to communication encourages spontaneous expression and reduces frustration, making it easier for individuals to communicate whenever they need to.
  5. Ascribe meaning. If the individual expresses something that may appear as a mistake or their meaning is unclear to you, respond to their message as best as you are able as though they meant it. This allows them to explore language and understand the meanings of words through context.
  6. Never be afraid to make mistakes. Your mistakes help the child/young person understand how to solve their own communication breakdowns. For example, ‘oh dear, I’ve made a mistake, let’s delete that word’ or ‘oops that wasn’t the right category, let’s go back!’
  7. Help the child/young person learn new language by repeating their words back to them using their AAC and then add another word. For example, if they say ‘cat’ you could say ‘black cat’.
  8. More comments, less questions! This allows the individual to share their thoughts and experiences without feeling pressured to respond directly, this can create a more relaxed and engaging interaction.
  9. Create a language rich environment for the individual, this will actively encourage communication and development. Ensure you are using and modelling descriptive language, labelling items and narrating actions through their daily activities to expose them to new vocabulary.
  10. Keep trying! It may not work first time but consistency is key.

The Speech and Language Therapists at Seashell have also created an A-Z of AAC which has been displayed around campus…