Text-based AAC

Also called Typing to speak, Text-to-speech AAC, Spelling-based AAC, Keyboard AAC

Typing to speak. The most flexible AAC there is, for anyone who can spell, and the reason literacy is worth fighting for.

What it is

Text-based AAC is spelling out a message letter by letter and having it spoken, or read, by the listener. On a device that is a keyboard and a speak button. On paper it is an alphabet board the person points to, or a pen.

It gives the person every word in the language, including the ones nobody thought to put on a board. That is why it is the goal of every symbol system, and why a person who can type should never be given only symbols.

Who it can help

Anyone who can spell, at whatever speed. Adults who lose speech after a stroke, a laryngectomy, or through motor neurone disease usually keep their literacy, and text is their fastest route back to their own words. Autistic people who type more fluently than they speak. Children as soon as they begin to segment sounds; the skill starts long before it is fluent.

It is not the answer for a person who can't yet spell, which is not a verdict on their intelligence but a statement about teaching. And it is slow. A typed conversation runs at a fraction of speech, so most text users also keep quick phrases and symbols for speed.

How it works

The person selects letters and the message builds on a sentence strip until they choose to speak it. Rate matters enormously, and every part of a text system is about rate: a well-designed keyboard, word prediction, stored phrases, abbreviation expansion, and an access method tuned to the person.

Keyboards come in more shapes than QWERTY. A frequency layout puts common letters where they are quickest to reach for a scanner. A big-key keyboard suits hands and eyes that need larger targets. A phonics keyboard lets a person build a word from its sounds before they know its spelling, which is a bridge for children and for adults with aphasia.

Getting started

Open the Talk board and use its letter keyboard. It has big keys, speaks what you type, and needs no setup. Type a sentence and press speak with the person watching; then leave the keyboard where they can reach it.

Teach spelling as if it will be used, because it will. Ten minutes a day of segmenting words into sounds and finding the letters, with the person's own interests as the words, beats a worksheet.

Keep an alphabet board in every bag and on every ward. It is the one tool that never fails, and for a person who can spell it is a complete voice.

Where to get help

A speech and language therapist will assess a person's literacy for AAC and pick the keyboard and access that fit. ACE Centre and CALL Scotland publish free alphabet boards and guidance on keyboard layouts. Communication Matters can point to peer users, which for a newly non-speaking adult is often the help that matters most.