#195 Stop Making Kids Prove They're "Ready" For AAC

As we continue AAC Awareness Month, I want to talk about an idea that kept far too many children from getting access to robust communication for far too long:

The idea that a child has to be "ready" for AAC.

Maybe they need to point first. Match pictures. Understand cause and effect. Show intentional communication. Sit and attend. Or start with something "simpler" before they can have access to a robust AAC system.

Many of us were actually trained to think this way. I was too.

But today we know something really important: there are no prerequisites for robust AAC. Access is the first step — not the reward.

In this episode, we'll talk about what it really means to give children access to AAC before expecting them to perform with it. We'll also look at some of the things that can make adults wonder whether AAC is "working" — like repeatedly pushing the same button, not responding after we model, or even pushing the device away — and what might happen when we replace judgment with curiosity.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why children do not have to prove they're "ready" for AAC

How outdated ideas about AAC readiness have influenced the way we support children

Why access needs to come before performance

What research tells us about using AAC as an early communication intervention

Why AAC does not prevent spoken language development