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We sat down with our team of speech pathologists supporting children and young people from our Scarborough clinic to understand how AAC helps children to improve their communication skills.

What is AAC?

ACC is “augmentative and alternative communication”. It describes the various methods of communication to help people who are not able to use verbal speech to communicate, or who have limited verbal speech.  

Are there different types?

There are various types of AAC and your speech pathologist will work with you to find the type of AAC that suits your child and supports them to meet their communication goals. There are two main types of AAC, they are aided and unaided.

Unaided AAC

Unaided AAC systems are when your child uses their own body to communicate, that is, they don’t need any tools to help them. Unaided AAC includes signing, gestures, facial expressions and body language.

Aided AAC

Aided systems use some kind of tool or device to support your child’s communication. Examples of aided AAC include communication boards, eye gaze technology, PODD books (printed and digital), touch screens and so on. Aided systems can be very basic or they can be high-tech.

Further information

If you’d like to know more about how we’re supporting children and young people in the Scarborough area to improve their communication skills, drop us an email at intake@xavier.org.au for further info.