AAC device

[Anonymous]

Speech therapist has suggested an AAC device for our son, 3. He has a lot to say but is having trouble communicating with peers and teachers who don't sign. We're going to go through the evaluation process. Just curious if anyone has used an AAC device before and how you liked it. Was it tough to learn? Was there a particular program you used? Did it make a positive difference?

[Anonymous]

AACs can be an incredible tool for kids! It can take a while to learn how to use appropriately, (not as a toy), depending on your child, or find the right system, and insurance can tough, but it's been great for our kid. He also doesn't have to use it all of the time - our child uses it often at school, but rarely at home, for example.

[Anonymous]

Our DS uses LAMP. https://lampwflapp.com/

One thing that surprised me about LAMP was that the icons are less about being able to read the word, and more about memorizing where it is in the system, similar to how adults rarely look at the keyboard while typing. DS is much more fluent in LAMP than I am. His SLP added icons to his device as he learned them.

But there are other system options that are more image based or organized differently.

[Anonymous]

Going through the eval process is great to find out what form of AAC works best for your child.
Just a word of caution, signing is a form of AAC and teachers at school are going to have to be onboard with the device for him to be able to use it to communicate at school. If teachers aren't willing to learn some basic sign language now you may find it an uphill battle to get them to take the device out of the backpack at school, learn how to use it and ensure that he has it with him all day.

[Anonymous]

I really like ProLoQuo, but you should try a few before deciding. It is reasonably user-friendly and can grow with the child as their skills advance. I personally disliked LAMP. Icons didn't seem representative of the words they described and the organization didn't make sense. For a lower functioning child like mine I think it's important that the parent favors the AAC device because they will need to program it and model it for the child.