AAC Awareness

What is AAC?

AAC stands for aug­men­ta­tive alter­na­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion. AAC is any form of com­mu­ni­ca­tion that’s not ver­bal, including:

• Signs
• Pic­tures
• Facial ges­tures
• Point­ing
• Speech gen­er­at­ing devices

Who would ben­e­fit from an AAC device?

Speech Gen­er­at­ing Devices are a good option for adults who have had a stroke or a TBI or a degen­er­a­tive dis­ease like ALS or Parkinson’s dis­ease that lim­its their abil­i­ty to com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly with their speech. Chil­dren with autism, speech aprax­ia, cere­bral pal­sy or any oth­er med­ical con­di­tion that might lim­it their abil­i­ty to com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly using their own ver­bal output.

Why is AAC Important?

AAC aware­ness month’s mis­sion is for all of those with com­plex com­mu­ni­ca­tion needs, have access to an AAC device, includ­ing those requir­ing adap­tive switch­es, eye gaze, or any oth­er acces­si­bil­i­ty accommodation.

To learn more about AAC and speech gen­er­at­ing devices vis­it, aacin​sti​tute​.org.

What can you do if you know some­one who may ben­e­fit from an AAC device?

If you know some­one who may ben­e­fit from an AAC device, please con­tact your physi­cian to request a refer­ral to the Quin­cy Med­ical Group Speech Ther­a­py Depart­ment. For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact us at (217) 222‑6550 ext. 3418.