what is aac?

Augmentative and Alternative Communication, or AAC, is a collective term for all the ways someone might communicate without speech. Augmentative means to add to someone's speech, while Alternative means to use instead of speech. What does this look like?

• American Sign Language
• Signed Exact English
• Modified or Home Signs
• Gesturing
• Spelling on a Letter Board
• Pointing to pictures or written words
• Using an AAC app on a tablet
• Using a speech generating device

Some with significant communication difficulties may communicate in their own way, understood by those closest to them. I call these secret or personal languages. From the outside, it may not seem like the person is communicating at all, but when you are part of that person's intimate circle, you will know exactly what they are trying to say.