The quick answer to the question of “Who Uses AAC?” is everyone! The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) defines AAC very broadly: “AAC includes all of the ways we share our ideas and feelings without talking.” By that definition, every person is an AAC user but only some people can rely on speech as their primary mode of communication.

A common myth is that a person needs to be completely non verbal or non speaking to require AAC. Let’s bust that myth together today! We can start with the name, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, or AAC. What was that first word?? It was Augmentative. To augment means to add to, or to supplement. AAC can be used by a person who does use verbal speech, or sign language, or a letter board, or pictures to communicate purely to make their message clearer!

“An individual does not abandon simpler strategies in the march toward independence. Instead, the individual acquires more and more sophisticated communication methods to add to an existing repertoire.” Blackstone & Hunt Berg, 2003

Watch this video to see how AAC is used to augment Philip’s verbal approximations, gestures, and voice.