Because of AAC…He First Learned to Communicate and Then He Learned to Talk

There is a myth that those of us who support and advocate for people with complex communication needs (CCN), find ourselves dispelling repeatedly, sometimes daily.  The myth is that Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) will somehow inhibit or prevent verbal speech.  It takes several forms when heard or read on various Facebook groups and pages.

One of the issues with this particular myth is that it is not only parents who are afraid that implementing AAC will inhibit their child’s verbal speech.  Professionals, including developmental pediatricians and SLPs, who are trusted to be the experts in childhood speech and language development, also make variations of the following statements:

~ “I don’t want my child/client to use AAC because we are working on verbal speech.”

~ “My child/client will become ‘lazy’ if I give her AAC and she can just push buttons instead of talking.”

~ “My child/client is only three so we’re going to give him another year since he can say 20 words.”

~ “I understand everything he wants, and we communicate in our own way.”

I could write about this all day, but I’ll simply say this:

~ If you are using AAC, you are working on verbal speech.

~ It is a lot of work to use AAC, and as soon as children are able to effectively and consistently communicate verbally, they do.

~ Even though you may be extremely tuned in to your child, assuming you know everything he wants to say underestimates his potential.  No one can predict what someone wants to say, and unless he has a way to communicate his thoughts, there are opportunities that you are missing to know what’s on his mind.

In the spirit of AAC Awareness, thank you to Kate, Felix’s mom, for sharing the following e-mail (and photos in this post) about her son’s use of AAC:

My son, Felix, uses Speak For Yourself.

Because of AAC I learned:

He knew his colors and shapes before I ever tried to teach him.

His favorite color is red.

He really likes toast and iced tea.

He has really good manners, (and says) please and thank you.

He likes playing with the doll house.

Because of AAC:

Felix can order his own food at restaurants. 

He said to me, “I love you.” Unprompted. 

He can tell me how he feels, when he’s happy, sad, needs a break or a snuggle and he no longer bangs his head on the floor in anger/frustration.

He can greet friends with more than a wave.

Felix talks now, a lot, it is his main form of communication. I know he would not have made this incredible progress w/o AAC.