{"id":124,"date":"2021-06-08T20:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T03:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/?p=124"},"modified":"2025-03-13T15:18:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T22:18:46","slug":"what-is-aac-and-how-can-we-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/what-is-aac-and-how-can-we-help\/","title":{"rendered":"What is AAC and How Can We Help?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to any form of communication that isn\u2019t spoken language. This can range from <strong>no-tech<\/strong> (facial expressions, gestures, paper-based images) to <strong>low-tech<\/strong> (communication buttons) to <strong>high-tech<\/strong> (apps and speech-generating devices).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people, including autistic individuals and others with speech-related disabilities, use one or multiple forms of AAC to communicate. As communication partners, it is <strong>our<\/strong> responsibility to acknowledge and respond to their messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Follow Their Lead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t understand what a child is gesturing for, let them guide you to their preferred item or action. You can say, <em>\u201cCan you show me?\u201d<\/em> to encourage them to lead the interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Model AAC Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Just like speaking children hear words many times before using them, AAC users need repeated exposure to alternative communication before they\u2019re expected to use it. If a child has an AAC device, model key words by selecting them yourself. For example, when asking, <em>\u201cDo you need help?\u201d<\/em> tap the \u201chelp\u201d button on their device or board. This builds their understanding of symbols and language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Provide Choices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Offer choices while holding the actual items: <em>\u201cDo you want water or milk?\u201d<\/em> If the child doesn\u2019t point, watch their eye gaze. Then respond, <em>\u201cOkay, you want the milk.\u201d<\/em> This teaches them that their gestures, gaze, or selection successfully communicated their choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Easy Access<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your child loves Cheerios, keep an empty cereal box, cut out the label, and stick it on the pantry door. This visual cue can help them communicate their preference independently in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Be Patient<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Not being able to speak can be frustrating and may lead to increased frustration or behaviors. Caregivers can help by providing multiple ways to communicate, including <strong>gestures, choices, pictures, apps, and speech-generating devices<\/strong>. Acknowledge their efforts by saying, <em>\u201cI see you\u2019re trying to tell me something, let\u2019s figure it out together.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Supporting AAC users means respecting all forms of communication, even if they don\u2019t look like traditional speech. Every person deserves to be heard, and AAC helps make that possible.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to any form of communication that isn\u2019t spoken language. This can range from no-tech (facial expressions, gestures, paper-based images) to<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernnvspeech.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}