When Language Grows: What We Learned From Changing AAC Systems After a Decade

For more than a decade, Nathaniel communicated using the same robust AAC system—from twenty months old through age twelve. Then we made a change.

It wasn't because his first system had failed him. In many ways, just the opposite was true. Nathaniel had grown into an experienced AAC user with more language, increasing literacy, and more complicated things to say.

In this webinar, I'll share what led us to consider a change after so many years, what it was like to move from a system that was deeply familiar to something new, and what I've noticed in the eighteen months since.

This isn't a comparison of two AAC apps or an argument that one system is better than another. Instead, it's a look at what can happen when an AAC user grows and his communication system is asked to grow with him.

Through real examples from Nathaniel's communication, I'll share some of the changes that have surprised me most—particularly what I've learned from watching him explore, connect, and organize ideas when his language doesn't have to immediately become a linear sentence.

Nathaniel's transition has left me thinking about a question I believe is important for both professionals and families:

How do we recognize when an AAC user's growing language, literacy, and thinking may be asking something different of their communication system?