Does Augmentative and Alternative Communication AAC Work?

Hello. Today we're talking about aac. So what AAC is, is augmentative and alternative communication. Okay? So my name is Ming from agentsofspeech.com and AAC is a substitute for speaking, for talking. So I'm sure you know who Stephen Hawking is. I believe you would know who Stephen Hawking is. Right, so he uses the aac that is a computer voice. Right. There are different kinds of aac, so. So even writing out something is considered an AAC because it's alternative to speaking. Right. Even gesturing, using sign language can be considered as AAC as well. So it's drawing, using Alphabet boards, you know, pointing to pictures or picture exchange text. Right. Or even using iPad or tablet apps are aac. All right, so children and adults who work with speech therapists, we use AAC with them quite a bit. And that's because sometimes they cannot physically do so. All right? They cannot do it because of maybe neurological problems or structural problems. Okay. So given that AAC becomes the default way of communicating and it's something that they require and need to do it. Okay. So sometimes we use AAC as a way to bridge towards speaking. And this is where, you know, parents and people don't like aac because if a child or an adult is capable of talking, why would you tell them to start signing and using iPad and so on? Right. Isn't that like going to make them even more lazy to use to talk? Right, so this is actually the opposite is true. Actually, that's actually a false concern. Okay, so let me tell you a little bit more. So we would suggest the use of AAC because sometimes speaking is hard for children. Okay. If it were easy, they would have been doing it already without any intervention. So by default you have to remember talking is hard. Okay? So using an AAC might reduce the friction in communicating with you. So anyways, they're. They're already communicating with you that there are some needs that they need to be met. Right. They might be already, you know, hand guiding, hand pulling, whatever you call it. They might be pointing, they might be screaming, they may be shouting, I don't know, or throwing a tantrum. They are already talking, not really talking, but communicating with you non verbally. Okay, so what if we find something in the middle that is easier than speech, but at the same time a little more communicative. That means there are more things and functions that you can, that they can say or express, and that becomes the default way of talking to you for now. And it will make a lot more sense for the kid, because just think about it logically. So I cannot talk that well. So I would use a system, e.g. pECS or sign language, in order to tell you what I want specifically. That is a lot better than me pulling your hand over there and have you guessed what I want? Okay, that's a lot better. So it builds up that communication intention. That's what we call. Right. It becomes even more. It makes more sense for me if I cannot speak well, all right? And actually I do do that in a foreign country. I use Google Translate all the time. I just type it and I play it and I let them know what I'm trying to do. Right? So I'm using some sort of AC to help me out and it works. Okay? And of course, I'm reliant on it, but I'm also learning from it, which is why we use it as a bridge towards speaking. All right, why is that? So if a child cannot talk yet, there are some prelinguistic skills that they haven't hit yet. Where it might be that there are loads of pre linguistic skills. This is not the scope of this video. But for example, it might be matching that they're missing out. It might be like turn taking, that they're missing out. Missing out. It might be just understanding different language functions, like, you know, waiting for their turn, like reading whatever these things, requesting, saying, no, negating all these things that they're. That they need to learn. Right? But if they cannot talk, how. How can they learn all of these? Or most of the time we're doing a lot of, you know, for nonverbal children, we do a lot of like matching, categorizing, you know, manding, whatever you call it. And having an aac, for example, having pecs with like the child has learned it. It becomes a base, a foundation, a routine, something that they already know. Like a framework to catch up on different skills. Okay. So for example, if they learn about use pecs, right, they must be able to, okay, at the very least, match a 2D to the real 3D object because they have to see, oh, it's a chip. So I have to find chips in my booklet. So that's already working on some pre linguistic skills. And when they give you the card, it's like, it's a more appropriate way of communicating. And at the same time, it's also like a little bit waiting. It's a little bit turn taking over there because it's my turn, I gave it to you, I'll wait. And then you give me something right? And it helps them to develop that instead of just screaming and shouting and hitting you. Okay? So as we progress, how we would use it. For instance, AAC is like when we get to a point with pecs, maybe that's the example I want to use. When they give you the card, what you do now is you try to do some, like, verbal imitation. And maybe you're holding chips and you say, chips, see if your child's going to talk. So we're trying to bridge towards talking. And you might say, hey, man, if they always. They can always like, sign out chips or, like, give you a card for chips, why would they talk? Well, it's obvious. Why am I talking right now? Why aren't I writing out something? Why are you watching a video? Right. Why aren't you watching me sign? The answer is simple. Because talking is the easiest way to communicate, is the most communicative. I can tell you the most information with the least amount of effort, so to speak. Okay? So if you have that in mind, having a middle step, as AAC teaches them some fundamentals about language and communication, right? After that, as they get better at it or they learn that, oh, actually, if I just make a sound, it's easier to communicate instead of going to my booklet, opening it, and then get the card and hand it to you. Right. How about sign language? Sign language is very communicative, you might say, I see a lot of deaf or mute people. They just talk themselves all the time. Well, first of all, they already learned the language really well with each other. That's first of all, Right. Second of all, is that what about. And gestures? You must look at the person in order to understand what they're saying. Right? But when we're talking, we don't even need to be a hundred percent focused to understand or talk to someone. Right? That makes it a lot more efficient. Okay? And plus, have you seen those, like, little bubbles with the person here? And then they're like. Like that, right? I talk very quickly, and then the sign language person has to do it a lot, a lot more. You know that there's a lot more content going on over there in order to achieve the same sentence. All right? So the bottom line is AAC does not make the child less likely to talk. It actually promotes it. Because at the end of the day, we're not thinking about speaking. We're thinking about communication and teaching language. And that's one last point, is that if you're teaching using PECs, using, you know, using Alphabet boards, using iPad apps, or, you know, even gestures. You can build sentences even if your child's speech cannot. Cannot go up to that level, cannot say things, say things as clearly as they. As they want to. And. But they can still communicate in a full sentence, which helps them catch up in terms of language, even if their speech isn't very, you know, very good yet. Okay, so that is what I wanted to share today. If you found it helpful, please let me know. And before we go, please go to agents of Speech.com checklist for a free list of tools and toys that I recommend you get when you start home therapy. All right, so thank you so much for tuning in. I'll see you in the next video. Bye. Bye.