Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

According to American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, augmentative and alternative

communication includes all the different ways in which we share our ideas and feelings without

actually talking. When you augment something, you are adding to it, therefore, augmentative

communication is when you add something to your speech (e.g. pictures, sign language, facial

expressions, a letter board, etc.). These tools can assist you with making your message clearer for

your communication partner. Alternative communication refers to needing a different way to

communicate. This could be because your speech is not understood by others or because you are

not able to speak (Hartmann, 2020).

AAC can refer to many different tools, systems, devices or strategies that are designed to assist

or replace verbal speech. Each and every single one of us uses different forms of AAC every day.

These include writing, drawing, facial expressions, or even the use of gestures instead of talking.

Individuals who have difficulties with speech and language may rely on AAC to help them

 

 

communicate. Some individuals may use AAC at all times, others may only use AAC in specific

scenarios (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association).

There are many different reasons why someone may not be able to communicate using speech.

They may have a developmental disability that has affected the development of their speech, or

they may have an acquired disorder that has affected their ability to speak. Different people with

a variety of communication difficulties, speech impediments, or disorders may benefit from

using AAC (Lingraphica, 2020).

There are different types of AAC devices – unaided systems and aided systems. It is common for

people who use AAC to use a combination of AAC types when communicating. Unaided

systems do not require anything other than your own physical body. These include facial

expressions, body language, gestures, and some sign vocabulary. With unaided communication,

an individual relies on their own body to convey messages to listeners. Aided systems use some

sort of device or tool in addition to the body. Aided systems can be broken down into basic and

high-tech. A basic aided system could be a pen and paper or using a picture board to point to.

High-tech aided devices refer to using a computer or tablet to touch letters or pictures in order

for that device to speak for the individual (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association).

The implementation of augmentative and alternative communication can be used to provide the

patient with an opportunity to practice repetitive production. The purpose of AAC is to “enable

those with highly limited verbal expression competencies to communicate efficiently to varying

communication partners and to participate in a variety of social situations and everyday

activities” (Lüke, 2016). Recent advances in technology have provided clinicians more options

than ever before to support a child’s acquisition of language using speech generating

augmentative and alternative communication systems (Barton-Hulsey et al., 2017). Evidence

 

 

shows that augmented input for improving communication skills in people with developmental

disabilities and CAS is promising (Zangari, 2018). The AAC being recommended for this case

study is Proloquo2Go. Proloquo2Go is an innovative application developed by AssistiveWare

that provides user friendly support for users, as well as all members within the interdisciplinary

team, in order to implement AAC best practices. AssistiveWare was founded in 2000 and is a

leading pioneer in the field of augmentative and alternative communication, developing assistive

technology software for iOS and macOS. Proloquo2Go was released in 2009 as the first

full-featured augmentative and alternative communication application for iOS. This is an AAC

application that can be used as a daily communication tool and aiding in building language skills.

This application was designed to promote growth of communication skills, as well as foster

language development through research-based vocabularies. This is one of the few AAC

applications that is designed to support all users, from beginner to advanced, and is available in

English, Spanish, French, and Dutch (AssistiveWare).