When a child’s spoken language ability alone can’t fully reflect the things they want to communicate, AAC can provide the tools needed to help them express themselves. At NAPA Center, we view augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) as a way to give children more reliable access to language, not as a last resort.
Introducing it early creates more opportunities for children to develop communication, social interaction, and language while speech continues to emerge, or when speech is not their primary mode of communication. By creating a more reliable pathway for expression, AAC supports greater connection, autonomy, and participation.
What this means for your child
AAC gives your child a reliable way to share their thoughts, needs, and feelings, with or without spoken words.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) includes different ways a person communicates in addition to or instead of spoken language. It may supplement speech or serve as a child’s primary form of expression. AAC can include:
AAC may be used temporarily, in specific situations, or throughout a child’s life. The goal is to give each child a reliable and flexible way to communicate across settings.
AAC may benefit any child whose verbal speech does not currently meet all their communication needs. This may include children who:
Children who use AAC may have a wide range of developmental, neurological, genetic, motor speech, and medical diagnoses. AAC is not limited to a specific diagnosis; recommendations are based on the child’s functional communication needs and ability to express themselves across everyday situations.
Beginning AAC can feel overwhelming, especially when families are unfamiliar with the available technologies or unsure where to begin. Your NAPA speech-language pathologist will guide the process and collaborate with you to:
Your child may be introduced to different AAC tools, access methods, vocabulary layouts, or language systems. This may include trials of communication boards, books, applications, speech-generating devices, direct touch, switches, partner-assisted scanning, or eye-gaze technology. The goal is not to test whether your child can “pass” a device trial. It is to understand which features and supports make communication more accessible and effective.
Your speech-language pathologist will help determine which combination of tools and strategies is most appropriate. Recommendations may include low-tech and high-tech options so that your child has access to communication across different activities and environments. AAC assessment is often an ongoing process rather than a single appointment, and a child’s system may evolve as their language, motor abilities, interests, environments, and communication needs change.
NAPA clinicians draw from a wide range of AAC technologies, language systems, intervention approaches, and access methods. Rather than prescribing one system for every child, our teams thoughtfully integrate supports based on each child’s language, motor access, visual and sensory needs, learning profile, communication priorities, and response to intervention. Some common AAC options available across our clinics may include, but are not limited to:
AAC success depends on more than the child learning to operate a system. Families, therapists, educators, and other communication partners play an essential role in creating opportunities, modeling language, recognizing communication attempts, and responding meaningfully. Your clinician may coach communication partners to:
Using the child’s AAC system.
And respond to every form of communication.
Give sufficient processing and response time.
Cut back on excessive prompting or testing.
Build meaningful opportunities throughout the day.
Including protest, refusal, and communication repair.
Keep the child’s communication system accessible throughout the day.
Incorporate AAC into everyday interactions without making every interaction feel like therapy.
No. AAC does not prevent or discourage speech development. Children can use AAC while continuing to develop spoken communication.
AAC can reduce communication frustration and provide children with immediate access to language while speech skills continue to emerge or receive treatment. A child may use speech and AAC together or rely on different communication methods depending on the listener, environment, complexity of the message, or level of fatigue.
No. Children do not need to demonstrate specific prerequisite skills before being given access to communication.
A child does not need to point accurately, match pictures, understand every symbol, imitate words, or demonstrate a particular cognitive level before AAC can be explored. AAC instruction and language development occur through access, meaningful interaction, modeling, and practice over time.
Low-tech AAC does not require electronic equipment or voice output. Examples include communication boards, books, photographs, written words, visual supports, and partner-assisted scanning.
High-tech AAC includes electronic systems that produce spoken output, such as tablet-based AAC applications, dedicated speech-generating devices, eye-gaze systems, and switch-access devices.
Many children benefit from having both low-tech and high-tech options. A low-tech system may serve as a backup or may be more accessible during certain activities, while a speech-generating device may provide access to a larger vocabulary and spoken output.
A speech-generating device, or SGD, is an electronic AAC system that produces spoken output when a child selects symbols, words, letters, or messages.
Speech-generating devices may be accessed through direct touch, eye gaze, switches, a mouse, a joystick, or another alternative access method. They range from tablet-based applications to dedicated communication devices designed for individuals with complex communication needs.
Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display, commonly known as PODD, is an AAC language-system approach that organizes vocabulary according to communicative intent and how people use language during real interactions.
PODD systems may be paper-based or electronic and can support children in communicating for a broad range of purposes beyond requesting. The system is designed to provide access to increasingly varied language while supporting communication-partner interaction and modeling.
AAC selection is an individualized and collaborative process. Clinicians consider the child’s language abilities, communication needs, motor access, vision, sensory profile, environments, communication partners, interests, and future development.
There is no single “best” AAC system for every child. The most appropriate system is one that provides accessible language, supports meaningful communication, and can grow with the child.
Not necessarily. AAC systems often change as children develop new language, motor, literacy, and communication skills.
Vocabulary, access methods, device positioning, system organization, and technology may be adjusted over time. Regular reassessment helps ensure that the child’s communication system continues to meet their changing needs.
No. AAC may also support children who speak but are not consistently understood, have difficulty producing longer or more complex messages, experience periods of reduced speech, or need additional support in particular environments.
AAC can supplement speech rather than replace it. The purpose is to give the child access to the most effective communication methods available to them.
NAPA’s US clinics are located in Los Angeles, Boston, Austin, Denver, Chicago, and Charlotte. Services and schedules vary by location, so our team will help you find the clinic that best fits your child’s plan.
Our speech-language pathologists can help you understand your child’s communication options and build a plan that grows with them.
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