AAC Users: Considerations for the BCBA

Learning Objectives:

• The participant will describe foundational AAC concepts and terminology, including total communication, aided and unaided AAC, high- and low-tech systems, and core and fringe vocabulary.
• The participant will identify factors that influence individualized AAC support, including the learner’s communication needs, strengths, environment, access needs, and communication partners.
• The participant will identify practices that support effective AAC use and total communication, including modeling without expectation, providing adequate wait time, maintaining access to communication, and responding to and honoring multiple forms of communication.
• The participant will describe the BCBA’s scope of practice when supporting AAC users and identify situations in which collaboration, additional expertise, or a formal AAC evaluation may be warranted.
• The participant will explain how collaboration among BCBAs, SLPs, OTs, caregivers, RBTs, and other team members can support meaningful AAC use across people and environments.

Many BCBAs find themselves supporting AAC users without extensive formal training in augmentative and alternative communication or a clear understanding of where the BCBA fits within the AAC team. This course provides a practical introduction to AAC while helping behavior analysts build the knowledge needed to support AAC users thoughtfully, collaboratively, and within their scope of practice.

Through examples of different AAC systems, practical resources, and videos of AAC users communicating in real-world situations, participants will explore foundational AAC terminology, total communication, core and fringe vocabulary, and factors that influence individualized AAC support. The course also examines practices such as modeling without expectation, providing adequate wait time, maintaining access to communication, and honoring multiple forms of communication.

Throughout the training, participants will consider how learner strengths, needs, environments, and communication partners should guide support rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. The course also addresses the BCBA’s role in AAC support, including collaboration with SLPs, OTs, caregivers, RBTs, and other professionals, recognizing the limits of one’s own expertise, and identifying when additional support or a formal AAC evaluation may be warranted.