How Augmentative Communication can be Integrated into the IEP

The teaching of communication skills is guided by the IEP and augmentative communication evaluations should be a component of the program and must be carefully considered for all nonspeaking students.  Once determined to be necessary for a student, the components of the system should be outlined within the IEP and should also include the use of the augmentative communication system within the student's educational program.  This will ensure that fundamental opportunities are provided for the student to practice communication skills within the context of his or her overall program. It's important to remember that every student must have goals and objectives that reflect the use and continued development of the system. 

When constructing an IEP for a student who uses augmentative communication, it's important that the student's use of the system is integrated within and across the school day, including both instructional and non instructional periods.  To ensure that the plan is aligned to all the student's instructional program components and expected outcomes requires collaboration among IEP team members. The IEP must include clear statements reflecting the student’s communication needs across environments and descriptions of how the specific features of the system will be used by the student. 

When developing goals, it's important to remember that the augmentative communication device is not an IEP goal in itself, but rather a means to accomplishing a goal. There are three goal areas to be considered for augmentative communication users: communication; instruction/academic; and social interactions. The IEP team must determine goals for developing more effective and efficient communication using the augmentative communication device, and also how the use of augmentative communication will enhance the student’s participation in the instructional process and in social interactions. 

Two additional components that must be included in an IEP for a student using augmentative communication are a list of the augmentative communication services to be provided by related service personnel (such as the speech/language pathologist and occupational therapist) and identification of the party responsible for device maintenance and operations. 

The next blog post will discuss the importance of support of augmentative communication systems at home and in the community. 

Sources:
Dell, A., Newtown, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive technology in the classroom . (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey : Pearson Education.