Not only does AAC not pose a barrier to language development in any way, there's actually evidence that AAC can help speech to develop! First, providing a way for kids to communicate without as much frustration will show them that they have the potential to be successful communicators, which makes them more likely to keep trying to use language. This means that AAC can actually empower children to continue learning—NOT prevent it from happening. Also, speech-generating devices can provide useful audio output for children to copy, which can directly help a child’s speech skills develop.

‘Requesting’ is a very common strategy and goal used in speech therapy, but there’s a lot more to language than just that! We believe that kids of all abilities should be exposed to and taught how to use all sorts of different functions of communication, from telling stories and answering questions to saying no and arguing! This of course includes AAC users.

Remember that AAC stands for Alternative & Augmentative Communication — it is communication in its own right. A child who uses speech would struggle to understand language if speech was not modelled for them, so of course the same would be true for a child that learns using AAC. In other words, it is the use of (and observing the use of) AAC that will facilitate and contribute to the AAC user’s understanding of language.

Actually, there’s no such thing as not being ready to use AAC. Just like how babies don’t need to qualify as ready before learning how to speak verbally, there is no right or wrong time to introduce children to the methods of communication that will allow them to learn. They're ready!