Babbling and Using AAC For The First Time

When an individual is first exposed to a communication board or a voice output system in particular, we notice that there's a period of exploration and sometimes people get worried about that. In verbal kids as they start to speak, we call that babbling, but when somebody takes a communication device and just starts pushing things and saying stuff, and we don't know what they're saying, we somehow think they're doing something wrong. We need to be careful to remember that that's part of normal development. 

As your child explores the words on our communication system, you can help them by noticing the different words that they say and the more you respond, the more they're going to use words that are interesting and powerful.

It's important to know your child's interests and to make sure the system is organized so that they can efficiently find the words that they need. As your child's language skills grow we'll see some combinations of words, such as “don't go”, “I can do it”, “Can you help?” These are really exciting opportunities that we need to notice and celebrate. 

Something I always tell parents is to keep in mind that your child's language skills are growing. Take note of how we need to support them as their abilities change over time so that they can have access to a more robust system as they grow.