Modeling: how to teach AAC
The app is called Model Communicator for a reason. Modeling is how AAC is learned.
What modeling is
Modeling means you use the communication device while you talk to the communicator. You speak out loud as normal and tap the key words on their device as you say them. Professionals call it aided language input or aided language stimulation.
Think about how babies learn to speak. They hear thousands of hours of speech before their first word, and nobody expects them to talk back for a year. A child learning AAC deserves the same thing: to see their language being used, over and over, by the people they love, with no pressure to perform.
The research on this is consistent. Children whose communication partners model on the device learn to use it sooner and say more with it. Summaries are on our research page.
How to model, step by step
- Get the device where both of you can see it. Sit beside the communicator, not across from them.
- Say your sentence out loud, and tap one or two key words as you say them. You say, "Let's go outside!" and tap go. You do not need to tap every word.
- Aim one step above their level. If they use no words yet, model single words. If they use single words, model two-word combinations such as want more, go out, not that. If they combine two, model three.
- Go slowly and let them watch your finger. They are learning where the word lives as well as what it means.
- Expect nothing back. Do not ask them to copy you. Model and move on. If they do tap something, respond warmly to whatever it was.
- Repeat, all day, for months. A few words modeled many times beats many words modeled once.
Tip: You will be slow and you will make mistakes. Good. When you hunt for a word, say so: "Hmm, where is play? There it is." You are showing that searching is normal and that mistakes are fine.
Finding words quickly
You do not have to memorize the board. Before an activity, use Find Word (the magnifying glass in the message bar) to look up the few words you plan to model. The app walks you to each one with highlighted tiles, so you learn the path as you go.
On the iPad, press and hold the profile chip to turn on modeling mode whenever you are the one tapping. It keeps your taps from changing the word suggestions the app has learned for the communicator.
Which words to model first
Start with core words. They work in every situation, all day long:
| Word | What it can do | Example |
|---|---|---|
| more | ask for another, keep going | "More bubbles?" |
| all done | finish, refuse, leave | "All done bath." |
| go | start something, direct people, leave | "Ready, set… go!" |
| stop | protest, end, control a game | "Stop! Freeze!" |
| want | request | "You want that one." |
| help | get assistance | "It's stuck. Help." |
| like / no | give an opinion, reject | "I like this song." "No peas." |
| look | share attention | "Look, a bus!" |
| up down in out on off | direct actions | "Shoes on. Light off." |
All of these are on the Home board. Pick two or three for the week and use them everywhere.
Good to know: Communication is much more than asking for things. Be sure to model commenting ("That's funny"), protesting ("stop", "not that"), asking ("what's that?") and feelings ("I'm mad"). A child who can only request snacks has not been given a full voice.
Modeling during everyday routines
You do not need extra time in the day. Attach modeling to things you already do. Underlined words are the ones to tap.
| Routine | Things you might say |
|---|---|
| Meals | "You want more?" · "Eat it up." · "Mmm, I like it." · "All done?" · "Yuck, bad!" Open Food+Drink for the specific foods. |
| Getting dressed | "Shirt on." · "Socks off." · "Arms up!" · "Help with the zipper?" |
| Play | "Go!" · "Stop!" · "My turn… your turn." · "More bubbles?" · "Uh oh, it fell down." |
| Books | "Look!" · "What is that?" · "He is sad." · "Turn the page." Comment more than you quiz. |
| Car and errands | "Let's go." · "Stop, red light." · "Look, a truck!" · "We are here." |
| Bath and bedtime | "Get in." · "Water on." · "It's hot!" · "All done, get out." · "I love you." (Use the paper board near water.) |
| Classroom | "Come sit." · "Same or different?" · "Open your book." · "I need help." · "Good work!" The Topics page has folders for Math, Science, Language Arts and Circle Time. |
For places a tablet cannot go, such as the bath, the pool or the sandbox, print the Home board, laminate it and point to the paper in exactly the same way.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Requiring the device before giving things. "Say it on your talker or you don't get it" turns the device into an obstacle. If you know what they want, give it to them and model the word as you do.
- Hand-over-hand. Do not take their hand and make it tap. Model on the device yourself. Their hands and their voice belong to them.
- Quizzing. "Where's dog? Show me dog." That is testing. It is not conversation.
- Taking the device away as a consequence, or because they are "just playing with it". You would not tape a talking child's mouth shut. Babbling on the device is learning.
- Only modeling requests. See the note above.
- Putting it away at home or at school. The device goes wherever the person goes.
- Waiting for "readiness". There are no prerequisites for AAC. Nobody has to prove themselves on a simpler system first.
- Giving up too soon. Months of modeling before independent use is normal. Progress tends to arrive in sudden jumps.
Getting everyone on board
The more people who model, the faster it goes. Brothers and sisters often make the best models of all. To bring the team along:
- Agree on two or three target words for the week and post them on the fridge and the classroom wall.
- Show each person how to use Find Word so that nobody feels lost on the board.
- Share this page with grandparents, aides, babysitters and teachers.
- Celebrate every attempt, the communicator's and the adults'.
For SLPs: For coaching ideas, a vocabulary progression and data collection, continue to the SLP guide.