AAC Tips

I wanted to share some wisdom when using AAC devices. Because we literally use Kreed's device in every situation we can think of, we learn a few things along the way! I will compile them on this page! Feel free to share, just reference Kreed's World please!

People wonder why use an AAC device- there are so many different reasons. I know children and adults who are  completely nonverbal who need a voice and I also know some individuals who have limited verbals skills that use a device to augment their natural speaking ability, as well as others who have a lot of anxiety and struggle in some situations to use their natural voice, and a device helps to get them through those situations.
A lot of times people struggle to get a child to begin using a communication device. Our solution for Kreed was simple- have him ask for his favorite things! Worked like a charm. Once he realized I wasn't starting his favorite movie, he quickly requested that I press "play." Same with food, when I wouldn't give him his bag of Ruffles chips, he quickly learned to say "ruffles" with his device.
With the advent of the ipad, a lot of people are using various communication apps to help their child. I am all for any way a kid can communicate, but given the choice I prefer dedicated devices. I have seen too many kids realize the ipad played games and refused to use the communicaton application. Now Kreed has had two ipads- one fore communication and one for playing before he had the T10. But now while Kreed is on the ipad, he can use his T10 to talk to us about it- from what movie he wants to watch, to how he feels about it or if he wants a snack during it. If the communication application was on the same ipad he did all of that on...he could not also communicate with me at the same time. Something to thinkg about....
Finally, a lot of the research on communicationg devices stop at the child learning to request items or they are only studying which kind of AAC the child learns to request with faster. There is actually very little research on how to teach the kids commenting, responding to questions, asking questions and other functions of language with a communication device. I am well versed in Verbal Behavior and as such, I tend to use the principles of verbal behavior to teach Kreed all the ways to communicate, beyond just simple requesting.
There are also many ways you can incorporate a communication device at home. Again, communication doesn't have to take hours and hours, but many of these short conversations can happen in less than a minute, but reinforcers your child's language to a great degree!!

6 comments:

  1. Love these tips, thanks for sharing them! I had also noticed most AAC instruction ends with requesting, thank you for giving me tips on how to proceed and for sharing kreeds life with us so we can see it lived out! I means so much to me and my son to have an example to follow :D

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  2. Thank you for your inspiring blog. It is so touching to read about Kreed, and your dedication in wanting the best for him. My son is also 16, is non-verbal, has Scad, sensory issues, dairy intolerant etc. We have a lot of issues around behaviour that challenges us & that is nearly always born from frustration because he cannot speak. I feel a communication device such as the one you are using, may be the key to helping my son.

    I have a few questions re the communication device. Is AAC & T10 the same thing? How much are they and can they be ordered from the UK?

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    1. Im not kreeds mom but wanted to chime in here. AAC would refer to any type or augmentative communication device. The t10 is a dynavox machine and they are very expensive but can sometimes be covered by medical insurance. Another option (what we use) is an iPad or tablet computer with software on it, the dynavox software is availabl as an app called dynavox compass. The app we use is called talktablet and I am very happy with it. another popular program is proloquo2go. We found that talktablet was the least expensive option and had all the features we wanted. The app costs $70 one time fee and you can run it on an iPad (least expensive is about $300) or you can run it on an android tablet which you can pick up for about $100 so for $170 you can have a fully functioning AAC device.
      Feel free to email me if you want more information on what we use, I'd be happy to help. Daisygirldesigns @ yahoo dot com

      - Tara

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  3. And for those who want a text based app, there is a, what I call, sister to Proloqro2Go. It is called, Proloqro for text. I use both. And I use cumpous. I could spelling that wrong, sorry. But I do better with pictures. And if you have a user that is blind, or vissualy impaired, proloqro, 2go and proloqro for text, do work with voice over.

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  4. I was teary-eyed that my daddy told me that "Stop that crying or I won't take you to the grocery store and get no Ocean Spray!" last month.

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  5. Hello,
    I am sorry if I am posting in the wrong place. My son has Autism and ADHD. We are looking into a service/therapy dog for him. My son has social issues and anxiety from many things. Do you have any suggestions? I saw the dog in one of your pictures. Any advise is much appreciated.

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