Low Tech AAC Guidelines

After a hot debate with a colleague about high/low tech I came up with guidelines for low-tech aac devices. In our “debate” she was insisting the low-tech meant non-electronic. I disagreed (rather loudly at a conference), arguing that low tech is really low cost. We did agree on the guidelines, check them out for yourself and feel free to comment below!

Functional

• Age-appropriate phrases
• Builds expressive language
• Common icons used in work activities

Portable Design

• Can fit easily on work area
• Color-coded pages – easy to access information
• Cells size needs to match ability of user

Content Related

• Pages are related to daily schedule of academic and functional goals
• Side-bar of general comments
• Easily expandable

Successful

• Training for all communication partners
• Create successful interactions
• Allow for refusal of interaction/communication