A concrete strategy to represent words. Can be used to teach vocabulary, help with transitions, or for child to make a request.

This strategy should be used with students who do not understand/connect visual supports to real objects or ideas.

To implement, show child the related object to the target word each time the target word is spoken. (Exposure and repetition).

Example: A child is struggling to transition to a meal. A fork or spoon should be shown every time to prompt that it is dinnertime. Child can take the item with them to the

Observational data collection should be utilized to evaluate the effectiveness. Student should demonstrate by identifying, transitioning, or requesting with less support.

For this strategy, no materials need to be prepared, so it is an unaided AAC system (Lorah, et. al, 2021).

This strategy can be used in combination with other AACs and communication strategies such as modeling and visual supports.

ASL is a strategy that is always accessible and students can quickly make requests or communicate. If a student is non-verbal and does not use visual supports, ASL is a great communication strategy to implement.

To implement this strategy, Discrete Trial Training (DTT) can be used to initially teach a new sign. Then the teacher can use appropriate opportunities to model the sign and have the student imitate. Eventually, modeling the sign should be faded out as student gains more independence with the signs.

Observational and frequency data can be used to determine if more independent requests are being made using sign language and how often a sign is being used.

This communication system uses visual supports. A person will exchange the visual for what they need/want. This system is a great choice for students with ASD to initially teach communication or as a low-tech, long term solution if they are non-verbal.

There are 6 phases for implementing PECS: how to communicate, distance and persistence, picture discrimination, sentence structure, responsive requesting, and commenting.

Phase 1 consists of using a single picture for the student to make successful requests with. Phase 2 is generalizing the skill with different people and environments. Phase 3 is adding additional pictures for visual discrimination. Phase 4 is combining visuals to create a sentence (e.g., "I want ____"). Phase 5 is using the visuals to respond to questions. Phase 6 is learning to comment or add to a conversation without answering a question or making a request.

Observational data should be taken for 6-8 weeks to determine the effectiveness of the communication system, (Norrie et. al., 2021). Phase mastery can be used to determine effectiveness as well.

This is a strategy for children to request what they want or need. This system is paired with reinforcement/motivation when the child correctly makes a request.

Example: A child spontaneously requests for food (this is manding). Their hunger was a strong motivator for them to make the request. Verbal praise can be given as a reinforcer along with the food that was requested.

This strategy can be used for all ages, however it is typically the first strategy that parents, caregivers, and providers use to encourage communication since it is an unaided strategy.

To teach this strategy, modeling, time delay, and repetition should be used. Modeling how to make a request (you can use a peer model for this) and then given the child the opportunity to imitate. Example: Parent: Do you want food. Food. Child: food. The next step is pairing modeling with time delay. Example: Parent: What do you want? Do you want....food? Child: Food. The child might complete the sentence, might say food along with the parent, or imitate food after the parent says food. Once the child completes the sentence, the next step would be spontaneously making the request. Example: "Parent: What do you want?" Child: "Food"

To determine if manding is effective for the child, observational data and frequency data can be taken over a 6 week period for one request phrase. How many opportunities they had to make the request and how many times were they successful can be a great indicator on whether manding is a successful communicaiton strategy.

Visual schedules can be used for students with autism that understand that a picture represents a task. Example: a toilet represents that it's time to use the bathroom, a slide represents that it is time to go outside and play, etc. Visual schedules promote independence and provide predictability for students with autism.

Visual schedules can be for between task schedules or within tasks schedules, (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, 2012).

Create a schedule for an activity or for the order of tasks within a day. Visuals can be of a literal object within the room (e.g., actual toilet they use at home), real objects that are not in the room (e.g., a toilet from the internet), or cartoons/drawings. The visual type depends on the child's comprehension. The provider should show the child the full schedule and then verbally walking through each task. As the child completes a task, there should be a way to mark it as complete (e.g., removing the visual from the schedule, using an expo marker to draw a checkmark, etc.) and look at what activity is next. Example: Child finishes lunch, marks it complete on their schedule, then checks what activity is next and transitions to the activity.

Effectiveness can be determined by observational data. Does the child show more independence by transitioning without behaviors and transitioning with less supports/directions? Less support and more participation can let the provider know that the strategy is aiding the student with their communication and independence.

Dynavox is a high-tech AAC device that is used for communication. They have many product options that can be used by eye tracking, touch, or switches. A high-tech AAC device is a great option if the student with ASD is non-verbal but has receptive communication to understand that the visual represent words, ideas, or tasks. The student must also have some understanding of cause and effect to effectively use the device.

Implementation is similar to PECS. Typically if a high-tech device is being introduced, the child has experience with visual supports. So starting at phase 3 (visual discrimination) of the PECS implementation could be an appropriate phase to start with before moving through the rest of the phases.

If the student is correctly making requests/communicating by using the device, then the device is effective. There can be a strong learning curve when first introducing the device so giving ample time (8 weeks) before seeing growth can be typical.

This device is a symbol/visual based app to aid in communication. It offers text to speech when the icons are touched. This device can be used for non-verbal students with autism or research has shown that the combination of visual supports and text to speech can encourage and promote speech for students with autism.

This system is similar to a digital PECS board but can be updated easily for additional vocabulary and can hold 10,000 + words. It can easily grow with the students' communication needs.

To implement, model how to use the device and following the PECS phases. As student's vocabulary needs increase, folders to group words into categories can be opened (Reinforcer folder, food folder, people folder, etc.)

Similar to other high-tech devices, if the student demonstrates successful communication by touching images that represent the correct item, the device is effective.

This a high-tech device that can be used for several purposes including conversational turn-taking, making requests, or storytelling. The user presses the button and a pre-recorded message is played. This device is unique as it combines sensory with the button so students are motivated to use the device.

To implement, the provider will pre-record messages for what they would like the student to communicate. Example: Greetings/introductions. "Hello," "My name is ____," "I'm happy today," etc. The provider would then start the greeting/conversation and prompt the student to press the button. Reinforcers should be given when the student follows the direction. Prompts should be faded out.

The device is effective if the student progresses to needing fewer prompts to use the device or spontaneously presses the button to communicate. Device is also effective if student begins to imitate speech or spontaneously use verbal speech to communicate.

This device is a symbol/visual based app to aid in communication (like Proloquo2Go). It offers text to speech when the icons are touched. Speech can be recorded by the provider or their are several voice options (e.g., a child speaker or specific accents that can represent the student). This device can be used for non-verbal students with autism or research has shown that the combination of visual supports and text to speech can encourage and promote speech for students with autism.

This system is similar to a digital PECS board but can be updated easily for additional vocabulary and the field options for how many word/visual options that are available can be changed as the student needs (e.g., starting with one word option on a page, then increasing to two, and so forth). It can easily grow with the students' communication needs.

To implement, model how to use the device and following the PECS phases. As student's vocabulary needs increase, pages can be created to group words into categories (Reinforcer page, food page, people page, etc.) Pages can be switched to like a tab on a web browser.

Similar to other high-tech devices, if the student demonstrates successful communication by touching images that represent the correct item, the device is effective.

This a high-tech device that can be used for several purposes including conversational turn-taking, making requests, turn-taking games (such as cards) or storytelling. The user presses the button and a pre-recorded message is played. It has 4 levels and can hold up to 300 seconds worth of recordings.

To implement, the provider will pre-record messages for what they would like the student to communicate. Example: Game. "My turn," "Your turn," etc. The provider would then start the game conversation and prompt the student to press the button. Reinforcers should be given when the student follows the direction. Prompts should be faded out.

The device is effective if the student progresses to needing fewer prompts to use the device or spontaneously presses the button to communicate. Device is also effective if student begins to imitate speech or spontaneously use verbal speech to communicate. Official frequency data can also be utilized to document progress.