AAC
Fringe Vocab
Specific to a subject or individual
Types of Support
Individual based on what your specific client needs (not a prompt heirarchy)
Symbol
What a word/visual support stands for in the world.
Core Vocab
Small number of words that make up 70+% of what we say on a daily basis
Initiate
Independently starts an interaction without any prompting. Different from responder (e.g. if a child answers questions or responds to choices)
Does not have to be verbal and can take form of non conventional behaviours
Declarative language
Stating out loud what one knows or thinks, narrating, in the form of a comment. Could be used for a variety of reasons e.g.
- share an opinion (I love cookies)
- make a prediction (I think I might have pizza for supper)
- to observe (it looks like bobby wants a turn)
- to problem solve (We need tape to fix it)
etc
Visual Supports
Objects
Photo or picture symbols
Core board
Topic Board
Communication book
Communication App
Other: Schedules, First then contingency, task analysis, social stories, rules
Sabotage
Gently** manipulate a situation to provide reasons to communicate
- missing item/piece
- do something differently than normal
- pretend to misunderstand
- out of reach or in hard to open container
Specific vs general
Specific - concrete words to describe a specific referent
General - words that can apply to many different things (e.g. more, help, this, that) easy to teach, but can lead to frustration and not getting what they actually want/need
ALI
Aided Language Input: Communication strategy where communication partner models spoken language + selective AAC vocab simultaneously.
- Helps build understanding of system and symbols
- Model multiple times during a variety of activities
Model
- Model language without expectation
- Match and expand
Telegraphic Speech
Simplified speech (nouns and verbs) without finer grammatical words (open door)
- Clients may be at this stage developmentally but we should always model full grammatically correct speech. (e.g. open the door)
AAC
Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Includes all the way someone communicates besides talking
Augmentative - adds/supplements speech
Alternative - instead of/replaces speech
Types - High tech (dynamic electronic component), Lite tech (something external but not electronic), No tech ( does not require anything beyond users body)
Follow Childs lead
Actively engage in a child's interests, however this is not just following a child around all day
- observe, wait, listen
- face to face
- respond enthusiastically to any initiation
- try something different
Communicative functions
Behaviour regulation
- requesting, protesting/rejecting
Joint Attention
- Commenting, Requesting information, Requesting social routines
Social interaction
- greetings/farewells, requesting permission
Sharing emotions