AAC communicative competence
Last updated
AAC communicative competence is the ability to communicate effectively with AAC, built from linguistic, operational, social and strategic skills.
Topic: Assistive technology and AAC
In plain terms
Linguistic skills are knowing the language and vocabulary. Operational skills are using the system: navigating pages, selecting symbols, charging the device. Social skills are knowing when and how to start, maintain and end interactions. Strategic skills are fixing breakdowns, such as spelling a word that is not stored.
How it shows up in an IEP
AAC goals can be balanced across these four areas rather than focusing only on naming pictures. Data from real conversations, not only structured drills, shows whether the four kinds of skill are working together.
Example
A student's goals include finding vocabulary on a new page (operational), greeting peers (social), and using "it starts with" to clarify an unstored word (strategic).
Related terms
- AAC (augmentative and alternative communication)AAC is any way of communicating that supplements or replaces speech, such as signs, picture boards or speech-generating devices.
- Aided language modelingAided language modeling is when communication partners use the student's AAC system themselves while they talk, showing how to use it in real situations.
- Core vocabularyCore vocabulary is the small set of words people use most often across situations, such as want, go, stop, more, help and not.
- PragmaticsPragmatics is the social use of language: how people use words, tone and body language to communicate in different situations.
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