Somebody hands you a leaflet that says AAC. A review mentions partner-assisted scanning. A ward asks whether your dad has a communication passport. Everyone else in the room seems to know what these words mean, and asking feels like admitting you're behind. You aren't. This library explains each one plainly: what it is, who it helps, how it works, and what you can do about it this week. Search by the word you heard.
Please note: This page is general information about communication and the ways people are supported to communicate. It is not an assessment, a diagnosis or speech and language therapy, and it does not know the person you have in mind. If you are worried about someone's speech, language or communication, ask a GP, a health visitor or a speech and language therapist. In an emergency, call 999; if you cannot speak, Relay UK on 18000 or the emergencySMS service reach the same operators.
301 topics, showing 291–300 (page 30 of 31).
Also called Dysphonia, Aphonia, Hoarseness, Muscle tension dysphonia, Vocal cord nodules, Spasmodic dysphonia
When the voice itself is hoarse, weak, strained or gone: what dysphonia is, when to get it checked, and how to keep communicating while it heals.
Also called Speech rate, Speaking rate, Voice pitch, Prosody settings
The two settings that make a synthetic voice sound right, or wrong, for its owner, and why the app's default is almost never it.
Also called Pause time, Expectant pause, Processing time, Thinking time
Count to ten in your head after you speak. It costs nothing, it needs no training, and it changes more conversations than any device does.
Also called Device failure plan, AAC breakdown, Broken communication aid
The plan for the day the aid stops working. Every device will, and a person without a plan is silent until it is fixed.
Also called Widgit, Widgit Literacy Symbols, Rebus symbols, WLS
The schematic symbol set most common in UK schools, easy-read documents and symbol-supported text, and how its licence works.
Also called Symbols versus spelling, Choosing a mode, Mixed-mode communication
Symbol cards, letter keyboard, phonics keyboard: three ways to say the same thing on one device, and how to choose the mode for the moment, not for the person.
Also called Predictive text, Prediction, Next-word prediction, Word completion
The device guessing your next word. It can halve the keystrokes or double the effort, and there is a way to tell which it is doing.
Also called Anomia, Word retrieval difficulties, Tip of the tongue, Naming difficulties
Knowing the word and being unable to reach it. It happens to everyone sometimes and to some people all the time, and there are ways round it.
Also called Verbal working memory, Phonological loop, Short-term memory, Auditory memory
Holding a sentence in mind long enough to act on it. When it is limited, long instructions fall off the end, and the fix is on the speaker's side.
Also called Offline use, Offline AAC, No signal
Why a communication aid must keep working with no signal, no Wi-Fi and no server, and how to check whether yours does before you find out in a lift.
Fiducia Talk is a complete talking board: 308 symbol cards, a phonics keyboard and a big-key keyboard, speaking in your device's own voice. No account, no subscription, and nothing you say leaves your device.
Open the boardAccessibility toolkit
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Fiducia Talk