Contributed by Claire Campbell, M.A., CCC-SLP, ATP

My favorite stories involving AAC invariably have to do with kids getting a little bit of an attitude with their devices—because it proves they know what they are doing! Here are some examples:

• The mom of a six-year-old who wanted her son to show off to the doctor encouraged him to say, “Mom, I love you.” His response? “Mom go away.”

• A 13-year-old, getting frustrated by Pop Up Pirate taking too long to jump up, grabs her device and says “good,” then pushes it away once the game is over.

• A 17-year-old asks for a Honeybun snack repeatedly, and when told over and over she cannot have it, finally goes to her social page and says, “oh!”

• A 10-year-old finally gets the snack he wants using his device and then promptly says, “leave me alone,” and walks away.

These are all excellent examples of real-world communication. There is no mistaking the communicative intent in each scenario. The responses may not always be exactly what we wanted in the situation, but how often do verbal kids say things we wish they wouldn’t as well?

Communication is about so much more than compliance, yet often we spend hours trying to “test” our AAC kiddos to see what they know. At the end of the day, what is more important —advocating/responding in line with a child’s needs or labeling a set of objects?

Some kids will automatically pick up skills (I certainly never taught my patient to tell his mother to go away), but some will need help. Consider these strategies:

• Try asking for opinions at the end of activities. Did you like it or not like it? Was it good or bad?

• Give kids vocabulary options for letting know they are through with an activity or need their own space.

• Check with verbal peers to find out what kind of slang is used to express thoughts.

• Model different response words (yuck, awesome, no way, oops, cool, etc.).

Always remember that you are seeking to help a child have a voice, not simply score well on a standardized test. We may need to redirect behavior and attention sometimes, but we should always celebrate purposeful communication!

 Claire is a full-time pediatric speech-language pathologist at Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center’s Pediatric Speech-Language Clinic. She has previously worked as the AAC subject matter expert at Texas Children’s Hospital and as a consultant for PRC-Saltillo. The majority of her caseload consists of high-tech AAC users and she loves bringing unique voices to her kids. Claire has provided multiple sessions regarding AAC at local and state conferences and will be participating in the Tennessee Talks lecture series over the coming year. You can reach out with questions at claire.campbell@vumc.org