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AAC Assessment
An AAC assessment is a Speech Pathologist’s assessment of how a person communicates now, what they want to be able to say and where, and which form of augmentative and alternative communication will let them do it: gestures and key word signing, picture boards and communication books, or a speech-generating device on a tablet. It usually includes trialling a system in real life before anything is decided.
The result is a written report that sets out why the recommended system suits the person and the goals it supports. That report is what the NDIS looks for before it funds a high-tech device, and what a school or a support team uses to get everyone modelling the same system the same way. Speech is one way to communicate. It is not the only one, and the assessment works out which way fits.
Participants, parents and carers
For Support Coordinators, plan managers and referrers
Our Speech Pathologists run AAC assessments across our clinics in New South Wales and Tasmania, and at home, at school, in the community and by telehealth where it suits, alongside our Occupational Therapists for the physical side of access. AAC suits people of every age and across many diagnoses, so the first question is always the same: what does this person want to say, and what is the best way for them to say it?
How do I fund an AAC assessment?
Most people fund an AAC assessment through the NDIS.
NDIS: the assessment, choosing a system, training and reviews usually sit under Capacity Building, in Improved Daily Living. The device itself is funded separately as assistive technology.
Medicare: without an NDIS plan, a GP chronic condition management plan gives rebates on up to five allied health sessions a calendar year. Medicare pays a rebate toward each session, and we’ll tell you the fee and any gap before you book.
DVA, private health and self-funded: all welcome.
If you are not sure which funding applies to you, call us on 1800 678 647 or email hello@opt.net.au. We will sort it out before your first appointment.
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What an AAC assessment involves
01
What is an AAC assessment?
An AAC assessment starts with what already works. Your Speech Pathologist will look at how the person gets a message across today, with speech, sounds, gestures, pointing or behaviour, who understands them and who doesn’t, and where communication breaks down.
Then comes the question the whole assessment is built around: what does this person want to be able to say, and where do they want to say it, at home, at school, at work or out in the community?
From there your Speech Pathologist shapes an AAC system around those answers rather than around a diagnosis, and usually trials a few options before settling on one.
The assessment is longer than a single visit, because watching a system work in real life is part of it.
02
What are the two types of AAC?
Speech Pathologists split AAC into unaided and aided.
Unaided AAC uses only the body: gestures, facial expression and key word signing. Aided AAC uses something outside the body, and it runs from the everyday to the electronic. At the simpler end there are picture cards and communication books you point to.
At the other end there are speech-generating devices: a dedicated communicator, or a tablet running a communication app that speaks the words a person builds.
People often call those low-tech and high-tech. Most people end up using a mix, and every form earns its place. A laminated card and a tablet are both AAC, as long as they get the message across, and the right setup is the one a person can use easily in the places they actually need it.
03
Will AAC stop my child from speaking?
This is the worry we hear most often, and it’s a fair thing to ask. The research to date is reassuring.
Reviews of AAC studies going back to the 1970s have not found AAC reducing speech; most participants kept their speech steady or gained some, and where speech gains happened they were usually modest.
It makes sense when you think about what AAC does. It takes the pressure off, models language, and gives a person a way to be understood that works today.
Your Speech Pathologist will talk this through in the assessment, because a family that’s worried about it deserves the evidence and a straight answer. Whatever happens with speech over time, a way to be understood now is worth having.
04
What happens in an AAC device trial?
If a device looks like the right direction, there is usually a trial period, where the person uses a system in real life before anything is locked in.
Vocabulary matters as much as the hardware. A teenager and a four-year-old need different words in different places on the screen, and a good setup puts the words a person uses most where they can reach them fast.
Your Speech Pathologist programs the vocabulary, coaches the people around the person so the system travels from the kitchen table to the classroom, and watches how it goes before recommending anything.
AAC only works if it is there when a person has something to say, which is almost never only in a therapy room, so the trial is judged on ordinary days rather than on one good session.
05
Why might an Occupational Therapist also assess?
For some people, the words are the easy part and the reaching is the hard part. Pressing a small target on a screen, holding a device steady, or finding a reliable movement to make a choice can take real work.
That is where our Occupational Therapists come in, alongside the Speech Pathologist. The Speech Pathologist shapes the language on the system. The Occupational Therapist sorts out the access, whether that is mounting a device on a wheelchair, setting up a switch, or working out eye-gaze or another way to select.
Because both sit under the same roof at Optimum Health Solutions, they line their work up directly. The report that goes to the NDIS then covers the communication system and the way the person will physically use it as one recommendation.
06
What does the AAC assessment report contain?
The report sets out why the recommended system suits the person and the goals it supports, what was trialled and how it went, and the coaching the people around them will need to use it the same way.
For a high-tech speech-generating device, that report is what the NDIS reads before it approves the device as assistive technology, so it’s written in the language the NDIS uses to make that decision. It’s also the document a school, a day program or a support team works from.
Where a standard tablet or smartphone would do the job, the NDIS lets you apply for it as a replacement support under separate rules, and your Speech Pathologist will tell you which route fits before the report is written.
What working with us looks like
The first appointment runs about 60 minutes, and most of it is your Speech Pathologist getting to know the person and how they communicate. How do they get their message across now? What do they want to be able to say? What does a good day look like next to a hard one? From there comes a clearer picture of what kind of AAC might suit and what to try first.
If a device is the direction, there is usually a trial period, where the person uses a system in real life before anything is locked in. Your Speech Pathologist programs the vocabulary, coaches the people around them, and, where the NDIS funds a high-tech device, writes the report that sets out why the system suits the person and the goals it supports. After that, sessions settle into a rhythm of using it, adjusting it, and adding to it as the person grows.
It is rarely one and done. AAC grows with a person, so the support works as an ongoing partnership that changes as their life does.
Part of the assessment is working out who around the person needs coaching too, because the system has to travel with them.
Funding an AAC assessment and device through the NDIS
AAC is a support the NDIS funds, because being able to communicate sits right at the centre of daily independence.
A plan can cover the Speech Pathology assessment, a device trial, the device itself, programming and partner training, and the progress reports your plan review needs.
Low-tech AAC is usually straightforward to claim. For a high-tech speech-generating device, your Speech Pathologist writes a report setting out why the system suits the person and the goals it supports, which is what the NDIS looks for before it approves the funding.
A standard tablet or smartphone can also be applied for as a replacement support, which has its own rules. Self-managed, plan-managed, or NDIA-managed, we work with all three, and our team checks your funding covers AAC before the first appointment.
NDIS
Referrals
14 clinics across NSW & Tasmania
Email us
hello@opt.net.au
Speak to us
1800 678 647
Get in Touch.
Where to access an AAC assessment
Common questions about AAC assessments
What is an AAC assessment?
What are the two types of AAC?
Will AAC stop my child from speaking?
What is the best age to start AAC?
Is AAC good for apraxia?
What is AAC in relation to autism?
What is a standardised AAC assessment?
Does the NDIS pay for AAC?
Can adults have an AAC assessment?
How long does an AAC assessment take?
Reviewed by Sarah-Louise higgins
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