OpenAAC

Welcome to year two of our annual reporting on the world of AAC! It can be hard to keep track of everything happening around AAC, and while there are online communities that can help, many people aren't actively immersed in AAC, but we want to give them an easy way to keep up to speed, so we've collected all of the AAC "stuff" from the last year into one place!

The State of AAC is a mix of looking backward and forward, seeing where we've come from and where we hope to go. If you read the report from last year, you'll see that we've added and adjusted a few things. We'll probably change up some of the quetsions every year. The report is drawn from multiple sources, and includes participation from AAC users, families and specialists from around the country and the world.

Pop Culture

The Dumbo-scale elephant in the room this year is the Disney+ adaptation of Sharon Draper’s book Out of My Mind. If you haven’t read the book recently, you might not notice any differences shifting it to the small screen. There were some much-needed advocacy updates, and some tweaks to the plot, but the film got enough right that the overall reception seemed positive. It tried to thread the needle of hitting the feels for parents and advocates, AAC users themselves, and the general population, which is no mean feat.

The real gut-punch is a blink-and-you-miss it scene where an unnoticed girl in the special needs classroom is smart enough to be on the quiz team herself, but, unlike Melody, it’s implied that nobody actually hears her, and best-case she gets the same treatment Melody was getting: listening to an audiobook in the corner all the day. This is, unfortunately, still too often the norm. Nobody should have to prove their ability before receiving grade-level instruction. Check out the clip below:

Beyond that, this year saw the debut of an off-broadway rom-com called All of Me about two wheelchaired AAC users, recognition in the ESPY awards for Steve Gleason, a congresswoman using AAC to address Congress, a live interview with Jordyn Zimmerman, and a new documentary on the coming-of-age experiences of AAC user Samuel Habib. We also heard there was an AAC user highlighted in an episode of Later Daters on Netflix, and a segment on Daniel Tiger as well.

2024 was also a year where a lot of attention went to aided-spelling AAC strategies S2C and RPM. These strategies are considered an evolution of Facilitated Communication (FC), no longer relying on direct physical touch, and their adoption is a sensitive topic. As such, we will just note media related to aided-spelling that came out in 2024, including the Spellers documentary, the film Tell Them You Love Me about Derrick Johnson’s FC interactions with Anna Stubblefield who was convicted of sexual assault, and Ky Dickens’ popular podcast The Telepathy Tapes, which proposes that non-speaking autistics are able to tap into another realm of consciousness. Because of the sensitive nature of aided-spelling, we will refrain from commenting on these media events, other than to emphasize that individual-driven communication should be the end-goal for all AAC implementations, and that non-speaking AAC users should receive the same level of education and support as their peers regardless of whether they have proved that they are “in there”.

All in all, plenty happened around AAC this last year! Most people still probably get very little exposure to AAC users in the real world, but it’s a good sign that there was more than one noteworthy appearance in our popular culture last year! One other mention is the new children’s book “Carlos’ Winter Adventures: Two AAC Stories” which includes symbolated text. Symbolated implementations are now discouraged by some AAC experts, but the book did come out this year and so it warrants at least a mention.

AAC Systems

Last year was another without any major end-of-life announcements for apps. Tobii-Dynavox received some mixed attention when they announced a subscription-only pricing model that effectively raised the price for consumers on the TD Snap app. CBoard also adjusted their model to a free-baseline-paid-extras approach. A few new products arrived, including FlexSpeak, Speak Anyway, and Mosaic Voice. Not all of them are ready for prime time, but if you're up for giving feedback they would all love to hear from you.

As far as app popularity, below are the apps our survey respondents mentioned, sorted by number of mentions. TD Snap and Weave Chat both made noticeable jumps in people's awareness, though it remains to be seen what will happen with TD Snap's new pricing.

TouchChat TD Snap LAMP Proloquo2Go Grid Proloquo Go Talk Now Weave Chat AAC CoughDrop

Our survey also asked which AAC systems people considered the most *impactful*. The results are very similar to last year, with the noted addition of both FlexSpeak and NovaChat.

LAMP TouchChat TD Snap Proloquo2Go Grid Weave Chat AAC Avaz Proloquo CoughDrop Nova Chat PODD Proloquo4Text FlexSpeak TD Communicator Go Talk Now

AAC Vocabulary

We've said it before, and we'll said it again: vocabularies are different than apps. The conversation around vocabularies has started to shift this year as more people differentiate between the app that delivers a vocabulary, and the vocabulary itself -- helped in part by increased awareness of the Grid app and its broad range of vocabularies. TD Snap seems to have grown in popularity primary because of increased acceptance of its newer vocabulary, TD Snap Motor Plan. Also notable is the "Morgan" board, a robust AAC vocabulary created by Morgan, an AAC researcher and user, for Weave Chat AAC.

WordPower Nancy Inman’s popular sequenced vocabulary is available on many apps Words For Life A motor-planning update to Unity is a popular 84-button vocabulary TD Snap Motor Plan TD Snap’s app has gained more fans since getting this new vocabulary Proloquo2Go Crescendo An updated vocabulary to keep the original app up with the times TD Snap Core First TD Snap’s original vocabaulary is less-popular, but still growing in awareness Unity The original combination-based vocabulary is still used often Super Core Grid’s multi-grid-size contextual layout Quick Core Open-licensed motor-planning layout in multiple grid sizes Go Talk Customizable small-grid-sized layout Crescendo Evolution Proloquo’s new vocabulary for a new app, and training tools to go with it Alpha Core Keyboard-based layout offering very large grid sizes Avaz Avaz’s update vocabulary in larger grid sizes and clearer categories “Morgan” Board New motor-planning based vocab created by an AAC user for Weave Chat AAC Vocal Flair Open-licensed, familiar sequenced vocabulary in multiple grid sizes

Please remember that while some vocabularies are app-specific, that is mainly because the app vendor has chosen to keep it that way. Most vocabularies don't actually have unique enough features that they couldn't be ported to other apps. Our hope is that, with time, the idea of porting vocabularies across apps will gain more widespread acceptance. This would truly be a boon for AAC users, who could then mix and match the app and vocabulary combination that worked best for them.

Many vocabularies are also offered in more than one grid size. Here's the most common grid sizes reported by our survey respondents. 60-ish-buttons is the sweet spot again this year, and the 84-button grid size is still favored next, but there were more 70-ish and 30-ish grids reported this year than before. It's important to choose a grid size that works best for each individual communicator, and we strongly encourage everyone to think hard before implementing a grid with fewer buttons, given the inherent limitations that come with them.

Up and Coming

It's not just AAC apps that are showing up new on the scene. With new technologies, new features, new hardware and new ideas, there's a lot to digest! We asked our survey respondents to share what innovations they thought could have an impact in the world of AAC, and here's what they shared back:

Obviously AI is a big deal, though there's still work to do nailing down all the best ways to leverage it for AAC. AI voices and emotional responses (implemented by Avaz) are interesting. Using AI to generate on-the-fly topic boards has potential (CBoard has announced this feature as coming soon), although with possible motor planning tradeoffs. One additional proposal is to use AI to recommend efficiency changes to a user-specific vocabulary layout. This area will need time to settle in.

In feature-land, Proloquo introduced a new section called Thinking Space, which is a mix between a whiteboard and a sentence box. Just over a year ago TD Snap added a new feature called Vocabulary Filter. This is similar to CoughDrop’s Focus Words feature. And as mentioned above there are opportunities for AI features across the gamut. And last but definitely not least, Bridging Voice secured a partnership with ElevenLabs to provide free individualized AI voices to ALS/MND patients worldwide.

There's still a lot of questions and excitement around Gestalt Language Processing and how to best support it in AAC apps, and respondents also emphasized some back-to-basics approaches like Aided Language Stimulation and communication partner training that could use more attention. Additionally, multilingual support got plenty of shout-outs, and AI came up in just about every text box available on the survey.

Moving into other tech, Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) show a lot of potential. Most are still in the research phase, though some are beginning to gain some momentum. There is also enthusiasm about Apple’s new eye tracking software implementation in the iPad Pro models, with a lot of hope that the technology will continue to improve without too much of an added price point.

Beyond all of that, we asked people what futuristic ideas folks had for the world of AAC. Many of the responses were for things that probably shouldn’t be considered radical. Cross-device synchronization of changes, robust AAC for all, involvement by AAC users in app development, support for split screens or easier back buttons in some apps, neurodiversity-affirming practice, required AAC curriculum for SLP grad students -- all got a mention.

A few people mentioned the need to move beyond traditional grid-based layouts for AAC. We’re curious what people think that means, so please hit us up in chat or via Facebook if you have ideas there! Additionally, there is interest in more seamless multilingual support and code switching. Finally, there is a growing push for more open source and open-licensed materials, which we at OpenAAC are super excited to see.

Another noteworthy development is the noticeable pushback against the term, “presume competence”. In the recent past, criticism of the term wasn't always well-accepted by the community, and many said that a more measured approach equated to requiring proof of capacity before AAC could be considered. But now, because of the increased attention that S2C and RPM are receiving as possible communication supports, those who caution against them are distancing themselves from the term more strongly than before. Many seem to be adopting the term “presume potential” instead as a more accurate but still enabling rallying point.

Shouldas and Couldas

When it comes to research, there will always be important questions to ask. Respondents emphasized the need for more insight regarding the implementation of gestalts in AAC, as well as the impact of vocabulary sizes and layouts. As alternative access methods continue to evolve, there is a continued need to assess their efficacy. Also the hype around AI, some argue, needs to be tempered by systematic investigation and research. Additional research topics mentioned include whole-district vocabulary implementations, part-time AAC use, multilingual development, aided-spelling implementations, communication partner training approaches, the impact of ABA strategies on AAC, the effect of empowerment on AAC users, etc.

The wish list for AAC is pretty broad. Top to bottom it includes things like more trainings, more eye gaze options, open-licensed vocabularies, bigger lending libraries, better device cases, more multilingual AAC support, GIF and videos within apps, better keyguards and switch access, app support on phones, better word prediction, automated background removal for photos added to buttons, and universal core options. Looking at the list from a birds-eye view, there’s a clear need for better alternative access solutions, more organizational support for AAC implementations, and better adoption of useful features across more AAC apps.

That last one is high on our list here at OpenAAC. We don’t ever want a cool feature to sit in a single app. A lot of app providers have limited R&D resources to begin with, so we’ll add our own personal wish list item, which is more discussion around how AAC apps can be better, and less animosity around apps implementing each other’s great features. In a perfect world, an AAC user could pair up whichever AAC app worked best for them with whichever AAC vocabulary worked best for them.

Can You Introduce Me?

It's easy to think about AAC as just the apps, but the reality is there are people working hard -- above and beyond what they need to do for their job -- to make sure AAC implementations are working as well as they can, and to ensure as many people as possible have access to the information and tools they need to feel empowered and ready to help. We want to thank all of those people, whether they were named in our survey or not!

The following people received a significant number of mentions by our survey respondents.

Angela Moorad Tracks most common AAC apps, reports on new features and how-tos Lauren Enders Gonzales Compelling trainer of AAC strategies and leveraging online tools Erin Sheldon Mother of an AAC user and advocate for education and safety Karen Erickson Researches and teaches on literacy importance and approaches for AAC users endever* corbin Semispeaking AAC user and advocate for AAC and LGBTQ representation Caroline Gaddy Anti-ableist, neuroaffirming, social justice-minded, neuroqueer educator & SLP Gail van Tatenhove Influential presenter and trainer with deep AAC experience Rachael Langley AAC consultant and advocate, organized TalkingAAC Conference Alyssa Zisk Autistic part-time AAC user researches and presents regularly

Additional people mentioned by our survey respondents: Alan Vy, Barbara Fernandez, Brian Whitmer, Carole Zangari, Caroline Musselwhite, Darryl Sellwood, Elizabeth Bonker, Emily Diaz, Gayle Porter, Gemma White, Glenda Watson Hyatt, Gloria Soto, Gretchen Hansen, Jaime Preece, Jamie Boster, John Costello, Jordan Zimmerman, Kate Ahern, Kate McLaughlin, Kevin Williams, Laura Hayes, Lavender Fields, Lily Konyn, Linda Burkhart, Mary Katherine Dally, McInzee Steve, Scot Wahlquist, Susan Koermer, Tiffany Hammond, Tracy Rackensperger, Yoosun Chung

The Good Stuff

Where do you go to learn more about AAC? Many people don't have a quick answer for that -- so we asked those who do to share, and here's a collection of resources recommended by the AAC community!

PrAACtical AAC TD Learning Hub Assistiveware Blog AAC Language Lab PRC-Saltillo The AAC Coach Project Core Stepping Into AAC AAC in the Cloud Talking with Tech OMazing Kids OpenAAC ASHA SIG12

AAC for the SLP | Ask Me, I'm an AAC User | QIAT | AAC through Motivate Model Move Out of the Way | Lamp WFL Community

thechildledslp | mariadeleonslp | special_ed_tech_center | beautifulspeechlife |

Talking with Tech | AAC in the Cloud

Comprehensive Literacy for All

Something's Missing

This year we asked a new question, “What (if anything) do you find commonly needing to be added to pre-populated AAC vocabularies?”. There were bound to be some givens like personally-important names and locations. But the full (rank-ordered) list is something that we hope will be useful for AAC vocabulary developers to consider.

Personal Names
Personal Food
School Words
Slang
Private parts
Personal Locations
Personal Info
Sexuality
Medical
Pop Culture
Mental Health
Self-Advocacy
Cultures
Personal Interests
Gestalts
Exclamations
Abuse Terminology
Religious Words
Current Tech
Cuss Words
The word "safe"

One big takeaway is that AAC vocabularies need to be refreshed from time to time. Things like pop culture references, slang, cuss words, technology, and even medical terminology change often enough that some of the AAC vocabularies that have been around for a while can feel pretty dated when you dig down a level or two. It’s not a simple problem to solve, though, since slang and culture changes regularly, and tends to be generational anyway. Even still, there are some areas like human anatomy, religious terminology and self-advocacy that could be implemented once and make a big difference.

A few survey respondents specifically called out the lack of school-topic vocabulary in many AAC apps. There was a surprising tone of animosity against the descriptive teaching method, which emphasizes repeated use of core words over short-term vocabulary needed for a specific class. People are pushing back on sub-5,000-word vocabulary examples for using descriptive teaching as en excuse for not finding ways to include broader educational vocabulary. The descriptive teaching method definitely provides value for communicators who have any kind of selection constraints, but it does seem like both approaches can be accommodated in the same vocabulary through deeper, optional levels of navigation. This is something we will be investigating further in our own vocabulary research work.

The Ick in AAC

Hand-over-hand and forced compliance are still the most-mentioned, and one of the most problematic topics mentioned. Communicative independence is a critical component of autonomy, and honoring that independence is what separates authentic communication from performative assessment.

Additionally, many people mentioned the issue of AAC devices not being constantly available, either because it’s stuck in a bag somewhere or because it’s taken away as a behavioral consequence. Some also mentioned the concern of AAC communication only being acknowledged or honored if it is on-topic. There are also still pockets of practice where the outdated mindset of proving ability before getting access to a high-tech device exists.

Over-prompting and too-short wait times are still an issue, as are vocabulary grids with only a few large buttons, and a continued lack of literacy instruction in tandem with communication supports. School staff are prone to avoid modeling or aided language stimulation because of difficulty finding the words, and there were varied examples of how AAC is still considered “less than” speech-based communication.

Assessments

Assessments are an important tool for consistent evaluation and assessment on individual needs and growth. While at times they are overemphasized, they can be helpful when taken in context using a collaborative approach. Each individual is unique, but the hard truth is that many areas do not have access to practitioners with enough AAC expertise, in which case AAC-specific assessment tools become even more important.

Here is a list of the most common assessment tools reported for 2024, sorted in order of frequency:

DAGG-3 Free after registration - Dynamic AAC Goals Grid by Tobii-Dynavox Communication Matrix $5/use after 2 free - Non-profit tool for tracking levels of communication AAC Genie $12.99 iOS app by Celeste Helling for high-tech AAC assessments SETT Free - Student, Environment, Tasks, Tools - framework by Joy Zabala FCP-R Paid packet - Functional Communication Profile (Revised) Feature Matching Free after signup - checklist for assessing individualized technology requirements AAC Profile Paid packet - assess skills and design interventions with AAC ALP for AAC Free - Assessment of Learning Process online tool by PRC-Saltillo Language sampling Manually recording communicative attempts for later analysis iPad Pro High-quality tablet for assessing different apps and activities Dynamic Assessment Assessment through active participation seeking personalized results TASP Paid packet - Test of Aided-Communication Symbol Performance WATI Free - Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative CPP Free - self-evaluation Communication Partner Profile by OpenAAC CSA Free - pdf or online Communication Sampling Analsyis COLE Continuum of Language Expression by Chris Bugaj SIFTS Online assisstive technology assessment by OCALI Project VC Free - literacy and communcation education scales by CLDS QUAD Free - Quick AAC Developmental Profile by Russell Cross

AAC Acceptance

One area we will probably change every year on the State of AAC report is the few questions on how community acceptance and teaching is going. Our first of these questions this year was, "In your experience over the last year, how often were AAC users treated and taught in a manner appropriate for their age or grade level?" Unfortunately, a majority of the responses indicated this is happening half the time or less. The good news is that this gives us something specific to work on! School environments are probably the ideal starting point for change, as staff can have this brought to their attention and trainings can hopefully help improve the situation for AAC learners.

The responses to the second question are also concerning, but do helps give a clear picture of where to improve. The question, "Which aspects of communication do you see usually being taught or supported for AAC users?" had a mix of responses. Almost all respondents said "Requests/Needs" were being taught, and half reported "social interactions", but only a quarter are getting opportunities to learn personal reactions and opinions, one in five are getting literacy instruction, and only 7% for anything to do with creativity and make-believe. This matches with anecdotal reports that too much instruction for AAC users is still focusing only on nouns, daily schedule, and obligatory hello/goodbye messages.

Again, this is good news in a way, because it gives us something pretty easy to teach and work on! There is clearly low-hanging fruit we can harvest by introducing AAC users to grade-level material, giving them more opportunities to share their own ideas and opinions, and investing time into literacy instruction. Think how much of a difference these areas can make in improving communicator autonomy and self-empowerment!

Making the Grade

This is another new section we're starting this year, but we feel like it's an important one. There are multiple aspects that go into having a healthy ecosystem, and we've reached out to experts in various areas of the AAC field to help generate a report card on how we're doing on the whole. We'll be posting a more detailed summary of this report card soon, so stay tuned for additional quotes, insights and recommendations. But in the mean time, here's a report card for the AAC Ecosystem, Full Year 2024:

So... Maybe not the prettiest report card in the world. But it's definitely not a lost cause! Hopefully we can get some of those grades up by next year, and improve the health of the AAC ecosystem at large. We were happy to see higher marks for family supports and individualization, as those areas are probably some of the most pivotal to effective AAC implementation -- but getting an F for Education definitely stings. We'll dig more into these results in another post soon, so stay tuned!

Special Thanks

There are so many people who contribute to this annual report, and we want to give a big thank you to those named below, and to all the others who helped spread the word, shared their personal insights, or just did their small part behind the scenes to keep lifting us all up and help AAC make the most difference that it can for people all over the world. Thank you again, all of you!

Angela Moorad, OMazing Kids AAC Consulting | Jaimie Woodward - Hemet Unified School District | Elaina Swartzlander, Kent ISD | Emily Macklin | Janet Callahan, director, Lakhotiyapi AAC | ChitchatChamps | Natalie Slankard | Jamie Bodden Austin SD308; AAC@Heart | Cheryl Stewart | Lauren Enders Gonzales, Engaging AAC Solutions, LLC | Cristina Peralta | Lauren Skau Taylor, Glastonbury Public Schools | Saskia Splane, TN Educational Cooperative | Kathryn E. Dorney, PhD CCC-SLP; Western Carolina University, and one of the admins of AAC for the SLP | Jonel Condra, SLP, Spectrum Academy | NJSHA, NJCART | Alanna Conley TechACCESS of RI | Ryan Knoblauch - Monroe County Intermediate School District | Conduit Advocacy & Therapy | Cheryl Livingston, SLP - Cheryl Livingston AAC Support | Sara Hamoudah, SWCCCASE | Katie Tierney, Columbia Regional Inclusive Services | Jessi mclean | Sara Loving | Breeana Loveland | Brianna Hughes

Thank You, Come Again!

We hope this State of AAC 2025 report will be useful to everyone! There's a lot in there, so feel free to take your time going through it. See if you can pick up some insights from others in the community! We also hope this can help drive the AAC ecosystem forward by giving us all some clear areas to work towards over the next year.

OpenAAC is a small non-profit with big dreams of increasing awareness, global access, and collaboration related to AAC. This report is only one part of the work that we do, you can learn a lot more across this web site. We are grateful for donations to help fund this work, and we would love to see you join us in our initiatives as well!

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