Top Five AAC Tricks and Treats

It’s fitting that AAC Awareness Month and Halloween both happen in October, because building our AAC confidence has a lot in common with eating Halloween candy!

Okay, it’s a stretch, but hear me out on this. As SLPs, we want to grow our AAC skills so we can support our students effectively, but AAC is a complex topic, and we can quickly get overwhelmed. 

And, of course, as humans, we know sugar is delicious, and we want to devour that entire bowl of Halloween candy in one sitting! Unfortunately, when we do this (I’m not the only one, right?), we can end up feeling pretty sick. 

What’s the solution? It’s definitely not giving up on AAC (or saying goodbye to candy!). 

The key is to stick with manageable amounts of information (and sweets), to avoid overwhelm (and stomachaches). So this month, I’m excited to share my top five AAC tricks and treats. These user-friendly resources are perfect when you want to boost your AAC competence, but don’t have much time available. 

1. Take a Free Course

Nothing beats a webinar for a quick look at a specific topic, and a number of companies and organizations offer high-quality AAC courses at no cost to the learner. Here are a few to try:

• AAC in the Cloud
  • AAC in the Cloud is a remarkable annual conference! It’s completely online and completely free. 2024’s theme was Breaking Barriers: AAC Innovation & Beyond, and there are a diverse variety of sessions to check out. If you access the recordings through the conference player, you receive a certificate for reporting CEUs.
• AAC Learning Center Moodle
  • These courses come from a joint project of the RERC on AAC and Penn State University’s AAC Program. They cover multiple topics, including visual support, literacy, alternative access methods, and AAC funding. There’s also an option for free ASHA CEUs!
• Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) Webinars 
  • Cortical visual impairment (CVI) involves damage to the parts of the brain that process vision. The eye functions normally, but the person with CVI has difficulty using visual input effectively. Although CVI is common in children with complex communication needs, many SLPs may not be familiar with this condition, so the information in these free webinars from The Bridge School is vital!
• Project Core
  • Project Core comes from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and it focuses on communication systems that build on 36 specific Universal Core words. In addition to a number of handouts, it features 12 free professional development modules about topics ranging from aided language input to alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness. 
• The TouchChat Partner Program: 
  • This course (from PRC-Saltillo) is a great option for learning the basics of the popular AAC app TouchChat, including navigation, vocabulary, and settings. As a bonus, PRC-Saltillo offers ASHA CEUs, and completing this course allows you to apply to become a TouchChat Partner and access TouchChat HD with WordPower for free. 

2. Try an AAC Podcast

Podcasts provide a productive soundtrack for walks, commutes, and errands, and they’re so convenient! My favorite AAC-focused podcast is Talking with Tech, which is co-hosted by Rachel Madel and Christopher Bugaj. Rachel and Christopher (and their guests) are experienced AAC experts and their AAC enthusiasm is empowering and infectious! 

With over 300 episodes, it’s hard to know where to start, so here are a few of my favorites:

• Episode 285: Tiffanie Zaugg: Creating an AAC Facilitator’s Guide for a School District
  • If you want actionable tips to share with teachers, families, and paraeducators, this episode is for you! 
• Episode 279: Recast: Shaun Pearson & Chris Chicoskikelly: The AAC Agreements
  • This is a rebroadcast of a “greatest hits” episode all about AAC best practices. 
• Episode 278: Recast: Core Words Roundtable
  • This is another “greatest hits” conversation. It explores the reasons why core words are so important and offers many helpful tips for how to teach them. 

I also had the pleasure of hosting Rachel on two episodes of the Digital SLP podcast, where we talked about using technology in speech therapy and moving past “I want,” so be sure to check those out as well! 

3. Learn about the State of AAC in 2024

This is a new-to-me resource that I found while researching this post, and I’m excited to share it with you! Each year, the nonprofit advocacy organization Open AAC produces a State of AAC resource featuring AAC-related highlights ranging from AAC in pop culture to new apps and vocabularies. It’s a fun and efficient way to stay on top of developments in the field.

4. Explore AAC and Literacy

Literacy offers crucial freedom and agency for our students with complex communication needs, yet I’m guessing many of us feel uncertain when it comes to supporting literacy skills for our AAC users. That’s why this next tool is so important!

The Northwest Augmentative Communication Society (NWACS) has compiled a huge collection of resources highlighting AAC and literacy, including articles, websites, materials, and webinars. It’s perfect for general browsing or answering specific questions. 

5. Follow an AAC Road Map

This next resource is more of a large feast than a little treat, but it’s such a game changer, I had to include it here! I imagine it could be especially useful for SLPs who are passionate about AAC but not quite sure how to help their students or clients get started. 

Stepping into AAC was created by the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, and it’s designed to provide systematic guidance for anyone helping a communicator start AAC from scratch. It offers 20 weeks of AAC support, and each week includes activities, videos, handouts, and a newsletter.

I hope you enjoy these AAC tricks and treats (and some Halloween candy)! If you have any to add to the list, please let me know in the comments. 

References and Resources:

AAC and Literacy
AAC at Penn State
AAC Awareness Month: New Resources from ASHA’s Journals
AAC in the Cloud
AAC Learning Center Moodle
American Foundation for the Blind
The Angelman Syndrome Foundation
The Bridge School
Christopher Bugaj
Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) Webinars 
The Digital SLP Podcast
Free Trials of Robust AAC Apps for Individuals
International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Education
Northwest Augmentative Communication Society (NWACS
Open AAC
Project Core
PRC-Saltillo
Rachel Madel
RERC on AAC
The State of AAC 2024
Stepping into AAC
Talking with Tech
The TouchChat Partner Program
Universal Core Words