by Carrie Elliot, MA, CCC-SLP (speech/language pathologist), NWACS Board Member

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

The views expressed in this post are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of NWACS. No endorsement by NWACS is implied regarding any device, manufacturer, resource, or strategy mentioned. It is important to keep in mind neurodiversity-affirming practices when implementing AAC tools and services. People learn at different rates and in different styles.

Congratulations! You went through the process to get your child an AAC device! Now you have the device in your hands. You are at home. What is this going to be like? What should you expect?

You should NOT initially expect your child to:

pick up the device
type out a sentence
use the device purposefully and intentionally
communicate at a higher language level than they are currently demonstrating

Your child needs time to experience using the device. They need to see it used with you and other communication partners.

The below text and infographic will describe what you can expect to see when an AAC device first comes home.

You can expect to see your child…..

Play with the device. Your child may:

tap buttons to explore
open folders in the device

Explore the words in the device. Your child may:

tap buttons to hear what they say

‘Babble’ with the device. Your child may:

tap buttons that make strings of words. They may not make a lot of sense.
be playing with language - this is babbling!

Repeat on the device. Your child may:

find a favorite word they think sounds funny
find a word they think sounds interesting
press this word over and over again

Image of an infographic with red and black text describing what to expect when your child's AAC device comes home. Images of a person looking through a magnifying glass, a person babbling, a continuous circle, and a person with a pen and paper. — Infographic describing what to expect when your child’s AAC device first comes home. See the text to the left for the information via text-only format.

You may see this in the first few days and weeks. And also over several months! Your child may not use their device to communicate in a ‘traditionally expected’ way. They also may not suddenly use the device to communicate in a complex way. Trust that they are learning and communicating. It is a process and takes time!

All these things are normal and are part of the learning process.

What ways you have found to be supportive of learning to use an AAC device for the first time? Comment below.