Do you remember the last time you had to learn something new? What helped your learning the most, and what didn’t? Were there role models or teachers that supported you along the way? Learning new things takes time and practice, and learning how to use an AAC device to communicate is no exception. As you adjust to using technology with your child to help them express their ideas, focusing more on the teaching and less on the technology can help to increase success, and reduce overwhelm. To get started with teaching your child to use an AAC device, bring your patience, commit to the process, and consider the following steps to guide your learning, and teaching.
Get Familiar with the AAC Tool
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) comes in many forms, and is known by many names. Regardless of how it looks or what you call it, your child’s AAC device is a tool that offers access to language-but not without your support. As the person who spends the most time with your child, and one who supports your child during many meaningful and motivating, daily activities, you are an essential teacher in your child’s AAC learning process. To teach your child about the words on their AAC tool and how to use those words to communicate their ideas, you need to know what words are there, and how to find them. This doesn’t mean that you need to become a tech guru overnight! But you do need to start the journey of learning how to communicate with your child’s AAC device so that you can be a strong role model. To start the process of getting familiar with your child’s AAC device, consider these tips:
Start on the first page - The act of going from page to page in a complex AAC device may be too much as you’re first learning. To keep things simple, start by trying to model words on the first page of the AAC tool when practicing with a partner, and when interacting with your child. These words are easiest to locate and are likely to be used frequently throughout the day, so they are a great place to start your learning, and your child’s. As you gain confidence, you can challenge yourself to go into different folders and pages on the AAC device to find more words and phrases that support your child’s interests.
Practice with (and without) your child - Modeling words on your child’s AAC device by pressing the button for the word as you speak is the most important teaching strategy you can use to help your child learn how to use their AAC system. However, you may feel a bit lost early on, so trying to model only when your child is present might feel overwhelming. In addition to exploring words while you are interacting with your child, set aside time to practice using the AAC device with your spouse, a friend, or a family member, when your child is not present. Think about these practice sessions as being similar to how you might learn a foreign language, with the goal being to pick a topic and use the AAC device to talk about it with your practice partner. You don’t need to press a button for every word in your message, just the key ones. Over time, you’ll learn where more words are on theAAC device, and you’ll be able to talk about more topics using even longer sentences. Can you see a weekly AAC Date Night in your future?
Notice What Your Child is Saying
As you get more familiar with the words on your child’s AAC device, you will likely feel motivated to model more of those words for your child. One of the best ways to choose what to model and when to model is to observe the ways in which your child is already communicating during a familiar and motivating routine or play activity. When you model words on the AAC device that match what your child is communicating with other methods (e.g., gestures, facial expressions, behavior), your child will be more engaged with what you are saying and showing on the AAC device. Think about a few activities or routines in which your child is motivated and communicating. This might be during movement activities like swinging, or games like hide and seek and chase. As you play or complete tasks together, watch and listen to how your child engages with these activities. What does he say or do to show his preferences? Children communicate in many ways, including through:
Gestures, like reaching, pointing, or shaking their head
Sounds that are not speech, such as changing their voice to indicate they like something, or don’t like something
Movements, such as pacing in the kitchen when they are hungry
Behaviors like jumping excitedly to show pleasure
Take note of how your child is communicating during one or more engaging routines and make a list of words or phrases that you could model to match the intent of your child’s communication. These words and phrases can be a great starting point for modeling on the AAC device.
Show & Say Words to Match Your Child’s Ideas
Now that you’re getting the hang of finding words and noticing all the wonderful ways in which your child is already expressing their ideas, you can start matching those ideas to words on the AAC device. The act of “modeling AAC” means that you are speaking with AAC to show your child how they can speak with AAC. You can do this by pressing one or more words on the AAC device as you speak naturally to your child. If your child is learning their first spoken words, or you are still pretty new in your AAC learning journey, you may just model one word as you speak a full phrase or sentence, As you get more comfortable with the modeling process and your child’s language skills grow, you will start to model word combinations and eventually, full sentences on the AAC device. To gradually get the hang of modeling with AAC, consider these tips:
Wear the AAC device with a shoulder strap to make access for modeling easier as you move about your day
Model a word on the first page to make your modeling quicker, which will maximize your child’s attention during the early AAC learning stage
When you model words on other pages, make sure you start from the first page so that your child can see how you got to the target word
Model words that not only request items and actions, but also share opinions and ask questions
Your focus here is to make a connection for your child between their familiar way of communicating their idea, and this new way of using a word on the AAC device. When you notice your child communicating in a familiar way (see Step 2), model the word that matches their message by pressing it on the AAC device as you speak. You don’t need to require your child to press the word with you-just keep the fun interaction going and model wherever you see an opportunity. Do this more often over time, modeling more words during favorite activities, and modeling during more activities and routines throughout your child’s day.
Talk About Things with AAC
In addition to modeling words that match your child’s messages, using your child’s AAC device to talk about things that happen during the day is another great teaching strategy. This strategy is a helpful one when your child is engaged in an activity with you, but isn’t communicating something at that moment. By speaking to your child about your own thoughts and ideas using their AAC device, you increase the opportunities that your child has to watch AAC in action, and you expand the topics and words that your child learns. Consider these ideas for talking your way through the day with your child’s AAC device:
Model keywords on your child’s AAC as you give instructions
Model words on your child’s device as you ask questions
Model your opinions or comment on your own experiences during an activity
Use AAC to talk about what to expect next in your daily schedule, or about special events coming up in the day
Talk about experiences after they have happened to model story-telling
Modeling is most powerful when it occurs frequently. As you get more comfortable with modeling, take advantage of the teaching moments that not only arise from your child’s initiation, but also from your desire to share your thoughts with them through spoken and pictured language. The more you model, the more you will entice your child to learn the meaning of new words and new ways to use words. Modeling on AAC as you speak also helps your child understand your language and may improve their ability to answer your questions and follow through on your directions.
Offer Opportunities for Supported Practice
While you and your child are new to the AAC experience, it is important to focus most of your teaching efforts on modeling. Set goals for yourself to increase your modeling gradually over time. You will likely get restless with “only modeling” and might feel compelled to prompt your child to use the words that you are modeling, such as by withholding items or actions until your child presses or says a word. These types of teaching strategies do not lead to faster gains or better long-term outcomes for children who communicate with AAC. Instead of placing high demands on your child to use this new talking tool, consider how you might be able to offer supported opportunities that inspire your child to use the new words they are learning. Some powerful strategies to inspire practice without requiring it, include:
Making sure the AAC tool is available at all times so that your child can count on AAC when they need it
Waiting a bit longer (maybe a count of 5) before responding to your child’s current way of communicating, to encourage them to add to their message with AAC
Saying part of a sentence and leaving a blank for your child to fill in with AAC (e.g., “Ready, set,.......”)
Integrating AAC into fun, low pressure games and routines where there aren’t any “wrong answers” (e.g., as your child presses word son their AAC device, you act them out)
Keep in mind that language learning requires that the learner be immersed in the language for a substantial amount of time before they are proficient. It isn’t possible to predict how long your child will take to learn how to communicate with AAC, but experience and research tell us that the more exposure your child has to you and others speaking with AAC, the more learning opportunities they have. Keep your teaching efforts focused on fun and function, and with time, you and your child will feel more competent and confident with AAC.
If you’re looking for support on your AAC learning journey, our coaching services can help!
Originally posted on the Goally blog