AAC for 4 year old nephew?

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My brother has one son who is diagnosed with Autism and is behind in learning to talk. My mom babysits for him sometimes and thinks he can often understand things he is told. For example, asking him to get something for my Dad he will do it or to come to the table for dinner when asked to. However, if a situation comes up where he seems to want to say something on his own he will have a big meltdown. Often during this he'll just use the word "What!" a few times.

I was thinking of how I have enjoyed discussions through typing on internet forums and I've also heard stories of nonverbal people communicating through devices like iPads; maybe something like this or AAC(augmentative and alternative communication ) could help my nephew? I think this has come up before on this forum, but I want to get feedback regarding whether this is worth trying with af the 4 year old age level. I guess AAC can either be an iPad App or custom device that a nonverbal person uses as a medium to communicate by typing or selecting pictures like Emoticons.

Also, I've seen posts that a similar method called Facilitated Communication is highly questionable. I'd like to know if this is BS or pseudo-science before suggesting it to my brother and an option.

http://www.aacandautism.com/

FC is BS, please don't suggest to your brother or anyone else as something legitimate or worth trying, esp. for 4-year-old preverbal child who has potential to develop verbal communication, as FC will stop that development when the facilitator makes stuff up that he said, then there appears no need to teach him how to communicate, since he is already supposedly communicating, then he won't learn to communicate due to not being taught how.

The ESL curriculum worked well for me when I learned speaking from age 8 to 9. Learning to read helps provide language foundation for learning to speak or write or type later.

AAC would definitely be worth trying. There is a speech therapy group here in San Diego that does a lot of it -- Crimson Center -- you could contact them and see if they have a webinar or can recommend someone in your area.

You could also start small, take a few pictures of toys or food, and see if the child can be taught to flip through the pics and select something the adult then gives him.

You are not talking about facilitated communication, but rather something like PECS but as a computer app, right?

PECS is considered valid because it is child-initiated communication. There is no Ouija board aspect of a adult using the child's hands to guide them, yes?

If, that is that you are talking about, and the child is the one doing the image manipulation then I don't really see the connection with FC.

I agree with Zette, that you should start on a foundational level first. You can organize the clip art pictures in a notebook, if you want to do it old school. If you want an app, there may even be free ones available.

Some kids respond to it, and some don't. There is no need to invest in anything expensive.

Has he tried PECS? It is commonly suggested and if he is getting therapy, it is very standard, and you do not need to buy the proprietary system. It is common to just use plain old generic clip-art.

I believe one of the most popular apps is called Proloquo. It was originally developed on dedicated AAC devices, but in the last 5 years most of the AAC market has moved to the iPad. It's expensive, and you do want an speech therapist who is experienced in AAC involved.

The show signing time was helpful for my child with communication. My child learned one or two signs but actually learned to say words from the show. I don't know if it will be helpful there are episodes on netflix.

Ipads and androids have communication programs on them but he must be taught to use them interdependently.


Facilitated Communication is an expensive scam the so called therapist is actually speaking for the person with communication problems.

I thought so, too, but there was a local woman with severe non-verbal autism who for some reason got introduced to FC in her late teens. She went on to become valedictorian of her class at a local community college, and wrote a book about her life -- I Am Intelligent. In her case it looks like the facilitator is mainly providing support to her elbow and wrist: http://www.peytongoddard.com/FCvideo.html

In any case, FC wouldn't be appropriate for a 4 yo, so you're really looking iPad apps designed for communication. It's not enough to just hand a nonverbal kid an iPad, you really need a speech therapist who is good at developing communication as well.

I've been very busy the past week, but wanted to say thanks for the replies here. I am curious about the idea that an autistic child might be able to use an alternative to speech just to get communication going, yet also want to avoid pseudo-science.

I also recognize a concern that such a tool might be encouraging him to just become purely non-verbal and just type. I would hope that any tool that helps him communicate at all might open up a channel for counseling on how to express himself verbally.

I'll do some more research and mention it to my brother. My nephew is seeing a therapist, but I don't know the full details of his therapy.

AAC and PECS and sign language are very well regarded, alternative means of communication, not pseudo-science at all. PECS and sign language have been used for many years as a bridge to verbal communication. AAC is newer but I think would serve the same function.