AAC Assessments & Device Evaluation Everyone deserves a way to express themselves
Speech is one way to communicate. It is not the only way, and waiting for it is not a plan. Our AAC assessment service arrives with our speech-language service — this page is what it will involve, and what we can help with in the meantime.
Every way of communicating that is not speech
AAC stands for augmentative and alternative communication. Augmentative means it adds to speech someone already has. Alternative means it stands in where speech is not available. Both are AAC, and most people who use it use several methods depending on the moment, the environment and how tired they are.
AAC is not a last resort and it is not an admission of defeat. It is a way to have a say — in what you eat, where you go, who you talk to, whether you are in pain, and whether you agree.
What changes when someone has a way to communicate
A voice in your own life
Choices, preferences, refusals and questions. The ability to say no is not a small thing — it is the foundation of safety, dignity and consent.
Fewer behaviours that look like defiance
A large share of challenging behaviour is communication with nowhere to go. Give the message a route and the behaviour very often eases on its own.
It supports speech — it does not replace it
The most persistent myth about AAC is that it stops someone talking. Research consistently shows the opposite: introducing AAC is associated with gains in natural speech, not losses.
Relationships and belonging
Being able to join in, tell a joke, complain about your day, and be known as a person with opinions rather than a set of needs to be met.
Access to learning and work
Answering a question in class, contributing in a meeting, showing what you know. Communication access is educational and employment access.
Safety and self-report
Reporting pain, illness, fear or harm. People without a reliable way to communicate are at markedly higher risk, and closing that gap is a safeguarding measure.
What a communication assessment & AAC device evaluation will involve
We will trial real tools with the real person, in the real environment. Nobody gets prescribed a system from a catalogue.
Low-tech tools
Picture boards, communication books, choice cards, topic boards, alphabet and partner-assisted scanning boards, core-word displays and visual schedules.
Low tech is not lesser tech. It never runs out of battery, never gets left in the car, works in the bath and the pool, and is often the system someone reaches for when they are tired or unwell. Nearly every good AAC setup includes a low-tech layer, including for people with sophisticated devices.
Tablets & speech-generating devices
Trials of app-based systems on a tablet and of dedicated speech-generating devices, comparing vocabulary organisation, page layout, symbol set, voice, and how quickly a real sentence can actually be built.
We look at motor access, vision, fatigue, durability, and — just as importantly — whether the people who will support this person every day can operate and maintain it.
Switch & alternative access
For people who cannot reliably point: single and dual switches, switch scanning, head and eye-gaze access, keyguards, mounting on a wheelchair or bed, and positioning that makes access possible without exhausting the person.
Access assessment is usually joint work between speech-language pathology and occupational therapy — which is one of the reasons we do it in the same practice.
The communication assessment itself
Before any tool is trialled: how does this person communicate now, including the ways nobody has counted as communication? What do they understand? What do they want to say and cannot? Who are their partners, and in which environments?
The assessment produces a written profile and a recommendation with a first, second and fallback option — not a single answer that fails if it does not fit.
The part that decides whether AAC works
Devices do not fail on their own. They fail when they arrive in a house where nobody has been shown what to do with them — so this half of the service matters more than the shortlist.
Choosing the system
We trial options with you rather than at you, and explain the trade-offs in plain language before anything is bought.
Funding routes
We map what may be available — provincial and DSP routes, private insurance, school board resources, charitable grants and service clubs — and provide the clinical documentation each one asks for.
Learning to use it — together
Modelling, vocabulary teaching, and coaching for parents, siblings, teachers, EAs, direct support professionals and anyone else who talks to this person daily.
Reviewing as needs change
Vocabulary grows, motor skills change, devices break, people move schools. A system that is never reviewed becomes a system that is never used.
What we can help with today
A full AAC assessment needs a speech-language pathologist and we do not have one yet. These parts do not, and they are frequently what is actually blocking a system from being used.
A device you already have that nobody uses
The most common AAC problem we see, and rarely a device problem. Our OT can look at positioning, mounting, motor access and the physical reasons a system is not being reached for.
Physical access to a system
Seating, positioning, switch placement, keyguards, mounting on a wheelchair or bed, and reducing the effort a selection costs. Access assessment is joint OT and SLP work — we can start the OT half.
Modelling and coaching at home
The single biggest predictor of whether AAC gets used is whether the adults around the person use it. We can coach that, and our free handout is a good starting point today.
Getting started with AACFunctional communication training
Our BCBA teaches a reliable way to make a need known — a request, a refusal, a break. It is not a substitute for an AAC assessment, and it is often the change a household feels first.
Behaviour supportAAC — common questions
Can I book an AAC assessment now?
Not yet, and we would rather say so than take a deposit. A proper AAC assessment needs a speech-language pathologist, and ours is still being recruited. Join the speech waitlist and you will be contacted before bookings open. If your need is urgent, say so when you get in touch — we will tell you who in Nova Scotia is currently taking AAC referrals rather than hold you on a list.
Will AAC stop my child from learning to talk?
No. This is the single most common worry about AAC, and the evidence is consistent and reassuring: introducing AAC does not suppress speech development, and is associated with gains in natural speech. It reduces frustration, models language, and gives a child a reason to communicate — all of which support speech rather than competing with it.
Is my child too young, or too old, to start?
Neither. There is no minimum age and no prerequisite skill list to "earn" access to communication — the old idea that someone must first demonstrate certain cognitive skills before being given AAC has been thoroughly abandoned. At the other end, adults with acquired conditions such as aphasia, ALS, Parkinson's or brain injury benefit enormously, and are often the most under-served group.
Do we have to buy an expensive device?
Very often, no. Plenty of effective systems are paper-based and cost almost nothing, and many people are best served by a low-tech system plus an app on a device the family already owns. When the service opens we will assess what is needed and tell you honestly — including when the answer is that the cheap option is the better one. In the meantime, please do not buy anything expensive on the strength of a sales demonstration.
What if we already have a device that nobody uses?
Bring it, and bring it now rather than waiting. An abandoned device is one of the most common reasons people call us, and the cause is usually fixable: the vocabulary was set up wrong, the layout does not match how the person moves or sees, nobody was trained, or it was never modelled by the adults around them. Several of those are occupational therapy and behaviour questions rather than speech-language ones, so we can start on them today — see what we can help with above.
Will you provide assessments for schools and agencies?
Yes, once the service opens. We expect to work with families directly and to take referrals from schools, group homes, day programs and support agencies needing a communication assessment, a device evaluation, or staff training on a system already in place. Staff training on an existing system is something we may be able to help with sooner — ask.
Be first when it opens
Join the speech and communication waitlist — it costs nothing and commits you to nothing. If you have a device at home that is not being used, book a free 20-minute consultation instead; that part we can help with now.