School-aged American children spend on average 1,231 hours a year in a classroom. That’s a lot of hours of learning! Even though they’re away from home, parents and caregivers can advocate for their children’s communication needs. Just add augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to their IEP!

IEPs and AACs: What Are They? 🔗

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a document that describes an educational program for a student with disabilities. It’s a legally binding document in public education that ensures that students with disabilities get the help they need.

An IEP includes accommodations, or supports put in place that changes a student’s learning environment to help them overcome barriers. This could look like extra time on assignments or quizzes, large print worksheets or books, and AAC!

Don’t have an IEP, but think that your child might need one? Check out this IEP Guide from the Learning Disabilities Association of America.

According to the American Speech Language Hearing Association, Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) means all of the ways someone communicates besides talking. For example, we might use gestures, body language, facial expressions, or written language to communicate with others.

These can all be used either as an “augment,” an addition to speech, or as an “alternative,” in place of speech. People of all ages and abilities can use AAC and we often do!

Accommodations Parents Can Request🔗

The examples provided here are a starting point to help you advocate for IEP accommodations that promote communication growth, independence, and authentic participation throughout your child’s school day.

There are a lot of ways to support AAC users, and our Parent Enthusiasts can help you navigate all of them. You can also speak with a member of our SLP Empowerment team for resources from a certified speech therapist.

Ensuring Access to AAC🔗

The first step is making sure that your child has their voice available to them all day. The more easy to access it is for them, the more likely they are to use it!

• My child will have unrestricted access to their AAC device/system across all environments, including but not limited to the classroom, therapy, cafeteria, playground, field trips, and assemblies.
• The AAC system will be mounted (e.g., on a wheelchair, desk, or stand) in a way that ensures my child can access it independently and consistently throughout the school day.
• My child will have consistent access to a low-tech or backup AAC system(s) (e.g., communication board, printed core vocabulary) during times when the primary AAC device is unavailable, such as during charging or technical issues.
• The volume on the AAC device will remain on at all times and set to an appropriate level to ensure my child can be heard in various environments (e.g., classroom, cafeteria, playground).

AAC Support Team🔗

The AAC Support team includes your child’s teacher(s), support staff, and other people involved in your child’s day. Here are some accommodations to add to an IEP to help your child throughout a school day.

• A designated staff member or responsible peer will help to ensure my child’s AAC device is carried and transported between locations in a way that ensures they can have access to independent communication.
• Staff members who work with my child will receive ongoing or one-time training on my child’s AAC system, including communication partner strategies (e.g., modeling, prompting, responding to communicative attempts) to support effective communication.
• A designated support team member (e.g., Speech-Language Pathologist, Assistive Technology Specialist) will be responsible for providing regular support including system maintenance, troubleshooting, programming, and staff coaching related to the AAC device.
• Regularly scheduled collaboration time will be provided (e.g., monthly or as needed) for staff working with my child to review AAC goals, share data, adjust strategies, and ensure consistency in AAC implementation.

AAC Strategies and Data Tracking🔗

Using research-backed strategies and tracking progress is an important part of meeting goals and benchmarks in IEPs. Here are some examples that could be provided for AAC users:

• Staff will implement a least-to-most prompting hierarchy (e.g., visual, gestural, verbal, physical prompts) to support my child’s communication, ensuring independence is promoted whenever possible.
• Staff will provide sufficient wait time (at least 5–10 seconds or individualized based on my child’s need) after presenting a question or prompt to allow my child time to process and respond using their AAC system.
• Data collection will focus on functional communication growth rather than compliance-based measures.
• Progress monitoring and/or data collection will include a range of communicative functions (such as requesting, protesting, commenting, social interaction) rather than isolated skill use
• Staff will gather qualitative observations of my child’s communication use in natural, everyday settings across routines and environments using a uniform data collection method/template.

Providing Routine Opportunities🔗

People use many different methods to communicate (e.g., gestures, oral speech, written language, facial expressions). This is known as multimodal communication. Here are some ways this can be implemented in the classroom.

• My child’s peers will receive education on multimodal communication and training or guidance on how to appropriately interact and communicate with my child using the AAC system to promote inclusion and meaningful peer interactions.
• Staff will preload and model relevant vocabulary on my child’s AAC device related to lesson content, classroom discussions, and school events to support meaningful participation.
• Staff will provide my child with daily, natural communication opportunities embedded across routines, academic activities, social interactions, and unstructured times.
• My child will be provided with time throughout the day to freely explore their AAC device, including opportunities for stimming, exploration, and non-directed use, to support comfort, familiarity, and self-regulation.

Multimodal Communication Accommodations🔗

People use many different methods to communicate (e.g., gestures, oral speech, written language, facial expressions). This is known as multimodal communication. Here are some ways this can be implemented in the classroom.

• My child will have consistent access to a range of AAC tools (e.g., communication boards/books, speech-generating devices, communication apps) across environments to support flexible and robust communication throughout the school day.
• My child may use a variety of communication modalities to express themselves, including but not limited to AAC, gestures, vocalizations, facial expressions, sign language, and body language, as appropriate to the context and communication intent.
• Regardless of the modality of communication used or the accuracy of the message, All team members will honor and respond to my child’s communication attempts to reinforce my child’s intent to communicate and promote further interaction.

Behavior and Emotional Regulation Supports 🔗

When emotions are high, communication can become more challenging. Behavior can also be a way of communicating frustration or other emotions. Giving your child access to AAC can help reduce challenging behaviors and increase self-advocacy.

• My child will have access to emotion words, self-advocacy phrases (e.g., ‘I need a break,’ ‘I don’t like that’,) and sensory choices within their AAC system or visual supports. Staff will ensure my child has easy access to these in times of dysregulation or heightened emotion.
• During times of dysregulation, behavior challenges, or frustration, staff will honor my child’s preferred method of communication and provide AAC (including visuals, device, etc.) to support emotional identification, safe expression of needs, self-advocacy phrases and/or co-regulation strategies.

Student-Centered Personalization🔗

School isn’t just for academic learning, but social education as well! Giving your child access to personalized language and vocabulary will empower them and make the device their own.

• My child’s device will be updated regularly (e.g., 1x per month, 1x per quarter) by designated staff, with personally relevant vocabulary such as classmate names, class topics, etc.
• My child will have access to vocabulary, via AAC, such as social language, slang, and humor appropriate for student’s age and peer group
• My child’s device/vocabulary will be backed up regularly (e.g., 1x per month) in order to ensure access to customized vocabulary in the event lost or damaged device. 

Together We’re Capable of Greatness🔗

These are just a few ways to accommodate a child with disabilities. With the team all on board, your child will be communicating and growing in no time.