AAC Assessment Overview

2. AAC Assessment is holistic and
ongoing.
Consider student’s abilities
Current communication system
Receptive language
Literacy
Consider the communication environments—home,
school, work, leisure.
Every AAC system is a work in progress!
“Today vs. Tomorrow” (Beukelman & Mirenda 2013)
Always honor the current communication system as you
work on the new one.

3. Consider--
Communication partners—WE NEED
THEM!
They can tell us about the current
communication system.
They have background information about
the student.
They will be supporting the student’s
current and future communication
systems.

4. Barriers to communication
Internal
Speech, sensory and physical impairments
Hearing test
Functional Vision Assessment
Cognitive impairments,
Poor receptive language
Learned helplessness, fear of failure
External
In the physical world
In the attitudes and unexamined beliefs of other people

5. Background Information
Medical Diagnosis
Vision
Hearing
History of middle ear infections
Languages spoken at home

6. Life Domains
Home
Family members
Languages spoken by relatives
School
Projects and homework
Extracurricular activities
Leisure activity settings:
Travel?
Outdoor activities?
Religious activities?

7. Motor Skills
Gross Motor
Walks independently?
Uses a wheel chair
Manual: self propelled or partner propelled?
Power chair

8. Fine Motor
Can the student
Write?
Draw?
Point with an isolated finger?
Use a standard keyboard?
Point with the whole hand or fist?
Use a pointer?
Use eye gaze to point?
Size of targets
Spacing of targets

9. Current Communication System
Receptive Language
Can the student understand the speech of others?
Can she follow directions without gestural or
contextual cues?
Does he require visual supports (pictures, gestures) to
understand spoken information?
Has she completed any formal language assessment?
Some assessments can be adapted for non-speaking
students
Criterion based assessment

10. Current Communication
Unaided Expressive Language
Spoken words or word approximations
Manual signs and natural gestures
Intelligibility in context?
With familiar listeners
With unfamiliar listeners
Ease of production
Consistency of production
Communication should be as effortless as possible!

11. Speech & Language
Expressive Language (cont.)
Manual signs
Intelligible to unfamiliar communication partners who know
basic signs?
Intelligible to unfamiliar communication partners?

12. Pre-symbolic communication
Vocalizations
Gestures
Facial Expressions
Muscle tone

13. Behavioral Communication
Tantrums
Meltdowns
Self injurious behaviors
What is the message?
I don’t want this. I want that.
I’m overwhelmed. I need a break.
I’m frustrated, angry, confused…

14. Written Language—the most
complete AAC system ever!
Reading skills
Writing & spelling skills
Reading and writing are basic human rights.

15. Feature Matching
Identifying the client’s strengths or needs
Matching them to the features available in various AAC
tools:
Language representation:
Text to speech (with or without word prediction)
Picture symbols—PCSs, Wigit symbols, Pictographs, Symbol Stix,
Pixons, Bliss Symbols
Photographs
Braille, Morse Code
Access method: eye control, touch screen, single switch, two
switches
Accessories: mounting system, pointer, key guard, sun shield,
carrying case

16. Features: Speech Output
Synthesized speech
Allows users to generate unique spoken messages
Appropriate to user’s age, gender and (in many cases)
ethnicity
Delivered at consistent pace and volume
Doesn’t sound like a real person
Digitized speech
• Each message is recorded individually
• Great for singing Happy Birthday, telling jokes, making
animal noises and vocal interjections (Ahem! Ha! Doh!)
• Not consistent, rarely age and gender appropriate.

17. Features: No Speech Output
Technology free means:
You can drop it, throw it, get it wet! Never needs recharging!
Sometimes users get more social attention and face to face
interaction with tech free modes of communication.
PECS—Picture Exchange Communication System
Communication book
Eye gaze board
Alphabetic
Encoded
w/ auditory scanning
Picture based

18. Features: Keyboards
Alphabetic, QWERTY, Dvorak or organized for
scanning
Adapted keyboard—larger size; one handed 5-finger
typing
On screen keyboard
Word prediction
Sentence prediction
Size of text

19. Features: Switch Access
Scanning methods:
Automatic scanning
Step scanning (with one or two switches)
Inverse scanning
Row column, sequential (linear), rotary, block, other
Scanning mode—auditory, visual
Type of switch—button style, wafer, sip and puff, pillow,
squeeze, proximity, motion sensing
Switch access point—hand, head, chin, foot….

20. Features…
The list
Just
Keeps
Growing…..

21. But that’s ok!
The road is long.