Advocate Like a Pro: AAC in IEPs

What does AAC mean? It’s not just a device.🔗

According to the American Speech Language Hearing Association, Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) means all of the ways that someone communicates besides talking. People of all ages can use AAC if they have trouble with speech or language skills. Augmentative means to add to someone’s speech. Alternative means to be used instead of speech. 

Did you know that you can request AACs and supplemental aids to be added to your child’s IEP? An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet a child’s individual needs. Here are some ways that your child’s school support team can accommodate your child’s needs.

Example Accommodations: đź”—

  • 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.
  • 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.

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.

Example Accommodations: đź”—

  • 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.
  • 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.

It’s important to make sure that everyone in the classroom is on board, even your child’s peers! They can be involved, as well, on the journey to your child’s success. Here are some other ways that AACs (e.g., visual supports and other environmental aids) can be introduced:

Example Accommodations: đź”—

  • My child will have access to visual supports, including but not limited to visual schedules, First-Then boards, and choice boards, to support symbolic language development, comprehension, and expression. 
  • My child will have access to a classroom environment that supports multimodal communication by integrating a variety of communication methods (e.g., including core boards, visual supports, signs, symbols, gestures, images, and speech). These tools will be available and actively modeled across daily routines and activities to reinforce communication, support comprehension, and promote language development and accessibility.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Last, but not least, it’s vital that information is captured once these modes of communication are included in the IEP. Your child’s support team should be making observations, and documenting changes/improvements.

Example Accommodations: đź”—

  • 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. 

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