Alternative and Augmentative Communication

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Communication is basic human right. Communication is sharing of thoughts, ideas and feelings. Communication challenges are faced by a child who can’t speak or has delays. If this is not addressed, it leads to breakdown of communication, behavior problems and has a negative impact across all other domains.  

AAC means to augment (increase) and be an alternate to speech- Alternative and Augmentative Communication. AAC use does not negatively impact speech and it’s never too early or late to start AAC. 

We all to use writing, saying, pointing (multimodal communication) to communicate similarly we also should promote the same for children with concerns rather than just expecting them to speak (it’s only one form of communication).  For AAC to be successful it has to be used, not just spoken language. If we want to do well in anything we do, we need practice and it’s the same with Alternative and Augmentative Communication. 

Successful AAC use needs our active involvement, and we need to use it in daily activities.  We need to be familiar with the techniques of modeling and prompting to be good communication partners.  

Modelling is pointing or pressing the button /key as we speak. Before successful usage at least about 100 models is needed, so don’t lose patience.  Be intuitive to a child’s behavior, gesture, sounds and use every opportunity to communicate. We need to give this a purpose and meaning and respond to them.  We need to be consistent and interactive. Though it seems strange to talk and press button, unless we do this our attempts to communicate will not be successful.  Start with simple words which are used daily. Use one word above the child’s level.eg – If child is not using any word start with one word.  Do not question the child. Be natural, interactive and apt for the age. Always praise the child’s attempt to communicate. Give them time – don’t expect immediate response or hurry them (wait and pause for 10-15 seconds)   

Here let’s understand core and fringe words. 

Core – yes, no, help, more, greet (words which will help and benefit the child). 

Fringe words – important for the child like chips, chocolate and motivates the child.  

Prompts – help is another important thing that we as communication partners should do. Example – pointing, saying and giving clues.  Initially give less clues if more needed step up. After the child has mastered gradually reduce the clues given.