Does AAC Benefit Children with Profound and Multiple Disabilities?

For most SLPs, it is easy to see how AAC can be beneficial to someone with motor difficulties, like cerebral palsy or ALS. To say that AAC strategies and technologies can be life-changing for these individuals is not an understatement. Similarly, the fields of SLP and special education now recognize that visual supports and AAC options are a standard of care for people affected by autism who have little or no functional speech. Not only does AAC provide a means for functional communication, but it also plays facilitative important role in speech and language development. To be sure, there are significant challenges in the implementation of AAC supports and services with these populations, but the practices themselves are now widely recognized for their positive impact on communication, literacy skills, independence, and behavior.

But what about individuals with the most significant learning challenges? In this post, we share an article looking at AAC use with children experiencing profound intellectual disabilities, physical challenges, and visual difficulties. Following an extensive assessment period, multimodal communication was used to build skills in requesting and choice-making over a 5-week period.  You can read the details in the full article here. Each child received 5 hours of AAC interventions from an SLP plus carryover practice in the classroom for an additional 7.5 hours/week. “In total, both children made progress with a minimum of 12.5 hours’ AAC support each” (Harding, et al., 2011, pg 127).

Clearly, more research is needed. But if kids with the most severe intellectual disabilities, (and other challenging conditions), can improve their communication skills with this level of AAC support, educational teams have cause for hope. Let’s work together to build meaningful communication skills in ALL learners.

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Harding, C., Lindsay, G., O’Brien, A., Dipper, L, & Wright, J. (2011). Implementing AAC with children with profound and multiple learning disabilities: a study in rationale underpinning intervention. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 11, 2, 120-129.