by Margaret Edwards, MA, MEd, CCC-SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist); NWACS Board Member

I am encouraged by the new strides some Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) companies are making in regard to improving diverse representation. An earlier NWACS blog post by SLP and NWACS Board Member Carrie Elliot gave a very nice explanation on how a few apps can be modified to change the skin tone of the people symbols. If you look, you will find that there is a nice palette that includes various shades of brown. It’s a bonus that it is extremely simple to make these changes in the apps.

During Summer of 2020, the AssistiveWare group started an African American (AA) Voices Facebook group chat for SLPs. I was excited to be a part of the group that thoughtfully teased out what it really means for a voice to be considered AA. AssistiveWare looked beyond vocabulary and grammar, and dove into the difficult to measure intonation, rate, and timbre of voices. Their endeavor to diversify available voices from the Acapela-Group, developers of digitized voices was no easy task. AssistiveWare proudly announced their first African American digital voice in late February 2021. This voice is called Tamira and you can listen to a sample here.

While these two small steps forward may be cause for celebration, they is also reason to pause and look at the impetus for these projects. AAC applications have been available for many years. Proloquo2Go, for example, was released in 2009 with many subsequent updates. Now, approximately 12 years later there are diverse skin tones and one voice that is targeted towards AA users. Perhaps pure coincidence, but the skin tone options for AAC apps were released near the time George Floyd was murdered and the country erupted in protest. Regardless of the motivation, AAC developers should be making changes because it is equitable and the right thing to do. We, both clinicians and AAC users, should not have to wait for the next case of discrimination, protest, or murder to see a leap in inclusivity.

So, what does not waiting look like? We all know that representation matters. Look in the folders of your comprehensive AAC device. Which gender symbols represent a family? Look in the food folder. What ethnic food choices are immediately available? Look in the clothing folder. What multicultural clothing options are included? I challenge you to look critically at any comprehensive AAC system and determine if it includes representation for all or is focused on representation of the majority.

Let’s stop waiting. We should insist that pre-programmed page sets be updated and become more inclusive.

I stared this post by stating that I am encouraged, and this is the absolute truth. However, Maya Angelou taught us ‘when we know better, do better’. We know that it is critical that all people feel important and valued. We know that it is time to set fire to years of institutionalized racism. It is time that we make huge leaps of equity in the world of AAC. Let’s not wait.

Look at a few folders in an AAC application. Comment below on changes that you think could make a system more inclusive.