by Caralee Wirth, MS, SLP (speech-language pathologist); NWACS board member
reading time: 3 minutes
The views expressed in this post are those of the author and interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of NWACS. No endorsement by NWACS is implied about any device, manufacturer, resource, or strategy mentioned.
This AAC user was interviewed by Caralee with parent support and supervision. The child will remain anonymous and referred to as “AAC User” for this posting.
AAC User received a TouchChat Express 10 (Saltillo) just before turning 4. At the time, speech intelligibility was extremely poor. Trained and familiar listeners understood less than 50% with a known context. Less familiar listeners understood less. AAC User is now 8. Speech intelligibility has greatly improved (estimated 90-95% or slightly higher based on context). AAC user is currently a part-time AAC user. AAC is used as needed to repair communication breakdowns and to support written language.
Child interview:
Q: What was the best thing about using your “Talker?” (TouchChat Express)
A: It helps people understand me. It now helps me with sounds to spell. I also like the pictures.
Q: What do you wish other people would know about people using AAC/Talkers?
A: That if you want to write a sentence you can. Also, I wish people would know it’s not a toy so they don’t get to use it because they think it is.
Q: Do you remember learning how to use it?
A: It was hard to get used to and remember where things were.
Q: What made learning it easier?
A: Using it a lot helped me remember and I looked at the pictures a lot.
Q: Do you remember us personalizing it?
A: I remember.
Q: Can you tell me more about that?
A: It made it have my own favorite things. You just search up the picture. You download it and it makes a button. Sometimes it’s just a blank picture with words.
Q: What do you remember using the most when you first started using your Talker?
A: I used “mom” a lot and all of my dinosaurs.
Parent interview:
Q: What was life like before AAC was part of your son’s journey?
A: To be fully transparent, life was not enjoyable. Our son had no words. His frustration was at an all-time high. Which led to hitting himself and throwing himself down. It was hard to bond and help him when we didn’t even really know what he wanted. It breaks your heart to see someone you love struggling so much but not know how to help.
Q: What changed with the use of AAC?
A: The frustration was cut down by more than half! He became a different little boy. My son uses the “Josh” voice on his AAC device. AAC helped him hear each word which turned into helping with his own vocabulary. His confidence grew leaps and bounds. His AAC voice he used with a sense of pride.
Q: What was the hardest part of using AAC?
A: Consistency and judgment. When it came to consistency, you had to make sure that EVERYONE a part of his journey was on board. Especially in the school setting. Getting the device might have felt like the hard part. But advocating for professional support was by far the hardest part. Judgment is purely a me thing, I couldn’t handle the stares or the whispers from others. It could’ve been partly curiosity but I’m sure some was judgment. Some people don’t like being different and it’s not something people see a lot. So they just would rather look to me to answer instead of taking the time to get an answer from my son's different way of talking.
Q: What would you tell a family who may be considering AAC?
A: Do it. Changed our lives. It definitely had its ups and downs just like everything else. But the bad is worth it all in the end.
Q: What questions do you think I should ask- you, other families, AAC Users? What do you wish you knew?
A: How hard you would have to fight with schools to even consider accommodating a child with an AAC device.
