Special Ed Tech Center
Inclusive Insights & Access Tips
Issue 35 | October 2026
SOMETHING WORTH SAYING.
Creating space for authentic communication
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a classroom and watched a teacher or paraprofessional see me, then immediately head to the cabinet or the back of the room to retrieve a student’s AAC device.
Sometimes I ask why it wasn’t with the student. Other times, I laugh and joke that I’ve become the staff’s “visual cue” for AAC.
But underneath the joke, I’m always frustrated.
When we start talking about what’s getting in the way, I often hear some version of:
“They don’t really use it.”
Or:
“They don’t need it anymore. They talk now. Just yesterday they said…”
But even when the device is present, that doesn’t necessarily mean communication is accessible.
Maybe the system is new and the student is still learning where words live. Maybe AAC has become something they’re prompted to “use” rather than a tool they see other people communicating with. Maybe most of the language modeled for them is directive: stand up, sit down, quiet mouth.
Or maybe we’ve focused so much on whether a student is using their AAC that we’ve overlooked a more important question: Have we given them something worth saying?
A Question Worth Reframing
When communication isn’t happening, it’s easy to focus on what the student isn’t doing.
Instead of asking: Why aren’t they using their AAC?
Try asking: What opportunities are we creating for them to say something worth saying?
This shift moves us from measuring communication by how often a student uses a device to looking at the conditions around them. Do they have something meaningful to contribute? People who genuinely want to hear it? Enough time to say it? Access to the words they need?
Communication doesn’t happen because a device is available. It happens when there is a reason to connect, contribute, respond, protest, wonder, joke, share, and be heard.
Communication Needs Somewhere to Go
We often talk about AAC access in terms of the communication system itself. Is the device charged? Is it within reach? Does the student have the vocabulary they need? Can they navigate to it?
Those things matter. But access to AAC is not the same as access to communication.
Communication happens between people. It requires not only a way to communicate, but something to communicate about, someone who is interested in listening, and enough time and space for a message to emerge.
Think about the communication opportunities available to many speaking students throughout a school day. They whisper something funny to a friend. Complain that an assignment is too hard. Tell someone what happened at recess. Ask a question no one expected. Correct the teacher. Change their mind. Share an idea. Say something completely off topic. (“Teacher, did you know my dog pooped in the hall last night?”)
Now consider the communication opportunities we sometimes create for students who use AAC:
What do you want? What color is this? Tell me “more.” What’s the answer?
Those are opportunities to respond, but they represent only a small fraction of what communication makes possible. And honestly, I’m not sure I’d be particularly motivated to keep communicating if that was what was asked of me all day long.
When most interactions are initiated by adults, have expected answers, or focus on demonstrating a skill, a student may have access to a communication system without having much opportunity to participate as a communicator. Authentic communication includes opportunities to initiate, influence, connect, disagree, comment, joke, ask, tell—and sometimes say things that have absolutely nothing to do with the lesson.
Participation asks something of communication partners, too. We have to model language without requiring imitation. Wait long enough for messages to develop. Notice and respond to communication in all its forms. Make robust vocabulary available. Create opportunities for peers, not just adults, to be communication partners.
Most importantly, we have to make room for messages we didn’t plan for. Communication access isn’t just having a way to say something. It’s having something worth saying and knowing that someone will listen.
From Insight to Action
1. Create something worth communicating about.
- TRY: Look at one familiar classroom activity and ask: Where is there a genuine reason for students to communicate, not just respond? Add one.
- WHY: Communication is more likely to happen when students have something meaningful to contribute and their message can actually influence the interaction. Authentic communication includes commenting, questioning, protesting, joking, sharing opinions, connecting with others, and introducing ideas we didn’t anticipate.
- EXAMPLE: Instead of holding up a picture and asking, “What do you see?”, show something surprising, funny, confusing, or even a little ridiculous, and leave space for students to react. Or during a class activity, offer a real choice where the student’s response changes what happens next.
- The point isn’t that we can never ask questions with known answers. It’s to notice when those questions make up most of a student’s communication opportunities.
2. Model more. Require less
- TRY: Use the student’s communication system yourself during natural interactions, without requiring them to copy you or “say it on their talker.”
- WHY: Students learning AAC need opportunities to see their communication system used for real communication. Modeling shows what is possible without turning every interaction into a test.
- EXAMPLE: Example: A few years ago, I was working with a kindergartener who thought it was hilarious to drop things off her desk. So, I joined her. I quietly dropped something too, grabbed her device, and modeled, “UH OH.” She looked at me… and dropped something again.I modeled, “GO DOWN.” She waited. I dropped another. “UNDER CHAIR.” She smiled. I never asked her to copy me or “say it on her talker.” We were just playing, and I was showing her that her AAC could be part of the fun.
3. Make space for the message
- TRY: After creating an opportunity or modeling language, wait. Resist the urge to immediately ask another question, repeat yourself, prompt, or fill the silence.
- WHY: Communication can take time: to notice an opportunity, decide whether there is something worth saying, figure out how to say it, locate vocabulary, compose a message, and physically produce it. Jumping in too quickly can unintentionally take the communication turn away.
- EXAMPLE: Ask the class, “What should we do next?” Then pause. Look expectantly around the group rather than immediately calling on someone. Give AAC users, and everyone else, time to formulate a response.
Hear It From an AAC User
AAC user Abdi Omar describes AAC as much more than a tool for producing words. For him, it’s a way to connect, build friendships, participate in education, share his personality and humor, and be heard.
He also has some important advice for communication partners: include AAC users in the conversation, speak directly to them, and give them time. As Abdi puts it, pauses aren’t necessarily awkward silence. They can be thinking time.
Watch: All About AAC — From an AAC User
As you watch, consider: What might change if we measured successful AAC support by connection and participation, rather than how often someone uses their device?
Access Tip
Choose one familiar part of the school day and notice who has control of the conversation. Who gets to initiate? Ask? Disagree? Joke? Change the subject? Say something unexpected?
Use the scan below, then choose one unchecked opportunity you could make more possible.
Sometimes communication access isn’t about adding another prompt. It’s about leaving an opening.
Pause & Reflect
If a student could communicate anything they wanted during this activity, not just what we expect them to say, what might they want to tell us?
Explore More
Want to dig a little deeper? Choose the path that works for you.
Communication Functions: All the Reasons We Communicate
Explore the many reasons we communicate beyond requesting—from commenting and protesting to asking questions, sharing stories, and connecting with others. Includes practical examples of language you can model to expand communication opportunities.
Cookies and Core
What does AAC modeling look like during an everyday activity? Watch this example of aided language modeling during cookie making. As you watch, notice how AAC becomes part of the interaction rather than a separate task.
Listen: Beyond the Device: Mateo Moreno’
What does meaningful communication and inclusion look like from an AAC user’s perspective?
In this episode of SETC’s Awe and Wonder podcast, AAC user and advocate Mateo Moreno shares his experiences navigating school, relationships, and life as an AAC user, along with valuable advice for communication partners.
Around SETC
COMING UP AT SETC
- Inclusive By Design: Early Childhood & Preschool, Date: 10/13/26
- Assistive & Inclusive Tech Spotlight: Blind/Low Vision Tech for Early Learners, Date: 10/21/26
- Future of AAC – AI & AAC Foundations: Authorship & Identity as Access to Voice, Date: 10/30/2026
One Last Thought
I started this newsletter with an AAC device sitting in the back of a classroom. Getting that device out of the cabinet matters. Keeping it charged, available, and within reach matters. But that’s only the beginning.
The bigger question is what happens once it’s there. Does the student have people worth talking to? Things worth talking about? Words that let them say more than what we’ve anticipated? Enough time to figure out what they want to say? And when they say something we weren’t expecting, does it change what happens next?
Maybe our goal isn’t to get students to use AAC more. Maybe it’s to create classrooms where there is more worth communicating about—and where what they say matters.
