Augmentative and Assistive Communication with Children: A Protocol and Intervention Plan to Support Children with Complex Communication Profiles

This practical resource is designed to help the families and professionals who support children who use augmentative and assistive communication (AAC) to interact with the world around them. The research-based Hear Me into Voice protocol, presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention in 2018, the California Speech-Language Hearing Association Annual Convention in 2017, and the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication Conference in 2016, provides communication partners with a functional knowledge of the child’s communication skills and provides a practical intervention plan to carry forward. Through this protocol and intervention plan, communication partners can engage with the child’s personal voice, through their varying multimodal forms of communication; the child is given the space to grow into a competent and confident communicator.

Key features include:

• Photocopiable and downloadable resources, including the Hear Me into Voice protocol, an AAC report shell template, an AAC report teaching template, and tools including how to make a communication wallet, and a Let’s Chat communication partner tip card template.
• Guidance for offering AAC intervention sessions, including an intervention plan supported by case studies
• Practical activities that can be used to engage children with complex communication profiles

Engaging and easy to follow, this resource is not only essential for professionals and students looking to support children with complex language needs, but also families looking to understand their child’s unique communication style.

Lesley E. Mayne, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is Assistant Professor at California Baptist University. Her interests include augmentative and assistive communication (AAC) and pedagogy. Dr. Mayne has taught as an adjunct faculty member at California State University, Fullerton and worked in the public school, charter and private settings for 20 years. She has presented at local, state, national, and international events and conferences including the California Speech-Language Hearing Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Dr. Mayne participates in special education trans-disciplinary diagnostic and treatment teams, lectures and writes on topics such as AAC, social skills, accommodations and modifications in the mainstream academic setting. She received an award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2013 California Speech-Language Hearing Association State Conference. In 2013, she co-presented a five-hour Ablenet University webinar series with Dr. Sharon Rogers titled AAC: Developing Participation that reached an international audience. She is the author of Let’s Talk Social Skills, 2nd Edition (Speechmark, 2019).

Sharon M. Rogers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, served as Assistant Professor in Teacher Education at Claremont Graduate University and as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at California State University, Fullerton, where she taught the seminar and practicum in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Dr. Rogers was awarded for Outstanding Achievement by the California Speech-Language Hearing Association in 2010. As a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in public schools in California and Kentucky, she found her real passion was in assessing and developing communication of children with complex physical and communication profiles. She continues as a consultant with students as they participate using AAC. She published an article, Two Perspectives on Technology for Children with Special Needs, co-written with Dr. Suzi Hoge, that included viewpoints of both parents and speech-language pathologists. Her writing with Mary Poplin has appeared in the Learning Disabilities Quarterly. She is a presenter at the California Speech-Language Hearing Association, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) conferences in the United States, Ireland, Denmark, and Spain.