Communication in the classroom

Also called AAC in school, Classroom AAC

A lesson moves at speaking pace. Here is how a teacher makes it reachable for a pupil who uses AAC.

What it is

Classroom communication is the ordinary traffic of a lesson: answering a question, asking for help, joining a discussion, telling a friend something at the back. A pupil who uses AAC can do all of it, but only if the lesson is built so that a slow answer is still an answer that counts.

This is a teaching problem, not a therapy problem. A speech and language therapist can set up the device; only the teacher can make the lesson wait for it.

Who it can help

Pupils who use any form of AAC, from a paper core board to an eye-gaze device, in mainstream and special schools. Their teachers and teaching assistants. Parents who suspect the device lives in a drawer.

It is not for pupils whose main need is understanding rather than expression; see receptive language for that side.

How it works

Three things make a lesson reachable. The device is out, on and within reach for the whole lesson, not fetched when the pupil is asked something. The adults in the room model on it, pointing to words on the pupil's system as they talk, which is aided language stimulation, and the single most effective thing a class team can do. And the teacher plans questions the pupil can answer with the vocabulary they have, and gives wait time before moving on.

The vocabulary for each topic needs adding before the lesson, not during it. A pupil who arrives at a lesson on volcanoes with no volcano words cannot take part however good the device is. Somebody on the team owns that job.

If the pupil has an EHCP, the AAC and the staff time to support it should be written in Section F. If it is only in a therapy report, nobody is obliged to deliver it.

Getting started

Teachers: this week, pick one lesson and plan two questions the pupil can answer on their device, then wait ten seconds after each. Put the device on the desk at the start and leave it there.

Teaching assistants: model one word on the pupil's system every time you say it aloud for a day. You do not need training to start; you need to point.

Parents: ask the class teacher when the device is used across a normal day, and ask to see the topic vocabulary for next half term. If nobody can answer, ask the SENCO for a meeting and bring the communication support at school entry with you.

Where to get help

The school's speech and language therapist, via the SENCO, is the NHS route. Communication Matters runs training for school staff on AAC. ACE Centre publishes free classroom resources and runs courses. Speech and Language UK has guidance for teachers on communication-friendly classrooms. IPSEA advises on getting AAC written into an EHCP.