A low-tech AAC board is an effective, affordable communication tool for those with impaired speech or language.
While there are many types of AAC boards, this article focuses on low-cost (and often free!) low-tech boards and how to use them with your patients.
See the AAC Pack for boards and materials designed for speech therapy patients. Available in The Starter Pack!
Adult Speech Therapy Starter Pack
The Starter Pack is 900+ pages of print-and-go adult speech therapy worksheets, handouts, and templates.
5 Low-Tech AAC Boards
As always, start by doing an AAC assessment to decide which board your patient needs and what messages to add.
You can print low-tech AAC boards for your patients or use an app or digital version. We do recommend having a paper copy in case of emergencies. More on that below.
Let’s dive into 5 useful low-tech AAC Boards and how to use them!
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1. Alphabet Boards
As the name implies, an alphabet board has the letters of the alphabet. Your patient points to letters to spell out or supplement their message.
Ways to use an alphabet board:
- Spell out functional words and phrases
- Point to the first letter of each word you say
- Use as a pacing board to reduce speech rate
Video: How To Use An Alphabet Board
Speech-language pathologist Alisha Kleindel demonstrates how to use an Alphabet Board.
2. Needs Board
A needs board has functional words, pictures, or a combination of both. The patient points to the board to communicate their wants and needs.
Ways to use a needs board:
- Communicate an entire message. Point to I’m hungry
- Add visual cues when talking. Point to sweet + say “This food is too sweet.”
3. Pain Scale
A pain scale is a communication board that allows patients to communicate their pain levels. It’s often a scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain) and uses colors and images to express the severity of the pain.
The Wong-Baker FACES Pain Scale is the original pain scale, which can be used with patients aged 3 and up. It has 6 faces with expressions and a corresponding number scale that ranges from ‘no pain’ to ‘hurts worst.’
The United States Department of Defense recently developed a more detailed pain scale. It has colors, faces, numbers, and descriptions to help patients better communicate their pain levels.
Trial the pain scale with your patient to see which is easier for them to use.
4. E-tran Board
An eye transfer (E-Tran) board is a low-tech AAC board for patients who can’t speak or point. They instead use eye gaze and color-coded boxes to spell out their message.
An E-Tran board has 6 large boxes. Each box has 6 letters or numbers. The boxes and letters are color-coded and each letter or number requires two gazes to select. Here’s how to use it:
Hold the E-Tran board up to your eye level. Watch your patient’s eyes as they spell out their message:
- First, they gaze at the box that contains the first target letter or number
- Say the color of the box that they gazed at. For example, they gazed at the blue box, so you say, “Blue”
- Next, ask them to gaze at the box outlined by the same color that the target letter is colored
- Say the color of the second box. For example, they next gazed at the red box, so you say, “Red”
- Finally, confirm the target letter. In this case, “W”
For a step-by-step guide to making and using an E-Tran board, read How To Make An E-Tran Board.
5. Emergency AAC Board
Every patient who can’t communicate quickly and effectively by talking should have an emergency communication plan.
This is so they can communicate in case of a hospitalization, natural disaster, or any other situation where they don’t have access to power, a speech-generating device, their primary communication partner, etc.
- Have a quick-access emergency AAC board (alphabet board, whiteboard with dry-erase pen, eye-gaze board, etc.)
- Set up a fast, automatic way for the patient to call for help in case of an emergency (text, call chime, medical alert system)
- Set up a Yes/No/Maybe system (eye movements, gestures)
Laminate the Emergency AAC Board and keep it somewhere easy to grab in case of emergency. For example, in the pocket of a wheelchair or in an emergency bag.
An Emergency AAC board may be a Yes/No/Maybe card, an alphabet Board, or a needs board. If your patient can’t point or gesture, keep alternative access, like an extra laser pointer, with the emergency board.
Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities offers a free emergency communication board in English and Spanish.
Where To Get AAC Boards?
Lingraphica offers lovely, free communication boards
For communication boards designed for your adult speech therapy patients, see the AAC Pack!
Adult Speech Therapy Starter Pack
The Starter Pack is 900+ pages of print-and-go adult speech therapy worksheets, handouts, and templates.
Adult Speech Therapy Roadmap Course
The Adult Speech Therapy Roadmap is an online course that teaches you how to assess, treat, and document all major areas of adult speech therapy, from Day 1 to Discharge.
References
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (n.d.). Augmentative and Alternative Communication (Practice Portal). Retrieved August, 2024, from www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Professional-Issues/Augmentative-and-Alternative-Communication/.
- Brewer, C., Aparo, M. (2021) The Adult Speech Therapy Starter Pack. Harmony Road Design Publishing.
- Brownlee, A. (2021). Communication Options for People with ALS. The ALS Association. https://www.als.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/Communication%20Options%20for%20People%20With%20ALS.pdf
- Hustad, K. C. Garcia, J. (2005). Aided and unaided speech supplementation strategies: Effect of alphabet cues and iconic hand gestures on dysarthric speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 48, 996– 1012
