In this article, you’ll find 13 AAC speech therapy activities for adults, broken down by speech therapy setting. Plus, you’ll get AAC goals!
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AAC Speech Therapy Activities for Adults
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are ways to communicate besides talking. You can use AAC to help patients with limited speech and/or language.
AAC treatment options are as varied as your patients. You can help them communicate basic safety or successfully manage a career and kids.
In this article, you’ll find AAC activities that improve functional communication skills in the most common speech therapy settings: acute care, inpatient rehab, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), outpatient, and home health.
For all AAC treatments, help patients improve by following a hierarchy of communication. For example:
- Start by answering yes/no questions to communicate basic wants and needs
- Move on to simple one-word responses
- Build up to complex messages to communicate thoughts and feelings
- Communicate in a variety of settings
- Communicate with a variety of communication partners
The type of treatment activity you choose will depend on your patient’s strengths (e.g., which modality is most intact: drawing, gesturing, writing) and preferences (e.g. some patients may prefer drawing to gesturing).
Read on for AAC activities for your patient.
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1. AAC Writing Or Drawing Activities
One form of AAC is writing and drawing. Teach your patient to use a whiteboard, notepad, or sheet of paper to communicate their wants and needs.
Start where your patient is at, then increase the challenge as they improve. Do this by:
- Increasing complexity (length of messages)
- Adding in communication partners
- Decreasing cues
- Moving up the hierarchy of wants and needs (simple, complex, then social demands)
- When possible, the ultimate goal is independence with communication!
Writing/Drawing Activities for Acute Care, Inpatient Rehab, & SNFs
AAC Inpatient Writing Goal: Patient will write one-word answers to communicate simple wants and needs in a medical setting to improve safety and communication abilities in 80% of opportunities given moderate cues and assistance from staff in 2 weeks.
Activity 1. Ask your patient to write functional words and phrases to communicate with staff. “Pain,” “Medicine,” “Thirsty,” “Tired,” “I’m tired,” “I hurt,” “Bathroom please.”
Activity 2. Ask your patient to draw pictures of basic needs during the day to communicate with medical staff. Draw a picture of a pillow to communicate they want a new or different one. Draw a picture of socks to communicate they want a new pair.
Activity 3. Have the patient either draw or write words to communicate with therapy staff. “More exercise,” “That hurts,” “Need help.” Pictures can include a drawing of a bike for ‘exercise’ or a frowny face for ‘hurt/pain.’
Writing/Drawing Activities for Outpatient & Home Health
AAC Outpatient Writing Goal: Patient will write one-word answers to communicate simple wants and needs in home environment in 80% of opportunities given moderate cues and assistance from a communication partner in 2 weeks.
Activity 4. Ask your patient to write words and phrases or draw pictures to communicate their feelings and needs. Write “I love you,” “I need you,” “My head hurts.” Draw pictures of a heart for ‘love’ and a frowny face with an arrow pointing at their head for ‘headache.’
Activity 5. Ask your patient to write words and phrases or draw pictures to communicate where they want to go and what they want to do in the community. Write “McDonalds,” Library,” Pharmacy.” Draw pictures of a book for ‘Library’ or a pill bottle for ‘Need medication/pharmacy.’
2. Alphabet Board Activities
Another form of AAC is an alphabet board. This simple board has the letters A-Z, and your patient points to letters to spell out or supplement their message.
Alphabet Board Activities for Acute Care, Inpatient Rehab, & Skilled Nursing Facilities
AAC Inpatient Alphabet Board Goal: Patient will point to initial letters of words for up to 2-word phrases given an alphabet board to communicate basic wants and needs to improve safety and communication abilities in a medical setting in 80% of opportunities given moderate cues and assistance from staff in 2 weeks.
Again, increase the challenge as your patient improves by increasing the length and complexity of messages, adding in communication partners, and decreasing cues.
Activity 6: Ask your patient to spell out functional words and phrases to communicate with therapy staff. “Help,” “That hurts,” “Don’t understand,” “Water break.”
Activity 7: Ask your patient to spell out functional words and phrases to communicate with medical staff. “Tired,” Hungry,” “Bathroom,” “I’m thirsty,” “Call my family,” “Pain medicine.”
Alphabet Board Activities for Outpatient & Home Health
AAC Outpatient Alphabet Board Goal: Patient will point to initial letters of words for up to 2-word phrases given an alphabet board to communicate basic wants and needs to improve safety and communication abilities in home and community settings in 80% of opportunities given moderate cues from family in 2 weeks.
Activity 8: Have your patient spell words and phrases to communicate their feelings and needs. Spell out, “I need you, “How are you,” “No way!”
Activity 9: Have your patient spell out words and phrases to communicate where they want to go and what they want to do in the community. Spell out, “Bank,” “Doctor, “Restaurant,” “Go home,” “Car ride,” “Eat food.”
3. Communication Board Activities
A communication board is a type of AAC with words, pictures, or a combination of both. The patient points to the board to communicate.
Communication Board Activities for Acute Care, Inpatient Rehab, & SNFs
AAC Inpatient Communication Board Goal: Patient will point to pictures/words on the communication board to communicate basic wants and needs to improve safety and communication abilities in medical setting in 80% of opportunities given mild cues and assistance from staff in 2 weeks.
As your patient improves, increase the length and complexity of messages, add in communication partners, and decrease cues.
Activity 10: Ask your patient to point to functional words and phrases to communicate with therapy staff. “I’m done,” “What’s next,” “I’m in pain.” Expand their ability to communicate by using longer word and phrase combinations.
Activity 11: Ask your patient to point to functional words and word combinations/phrases to communicate with medical staff. “Lunch,” Water,” Therapy,” “I’m hungry,” “Get in a wheelchair,” Wet brief,” See a doctor.”
Communication Board Activities for Outpatient & Home Health
AAC Outpatient Communication Board Goal: Patient will point to pictures/words on the communication board to communicate basic wants and needs to improve safety and communication abilities in home and community settings in 80% of opportunities given mild cues and assistance from a communication partner in 2 weeks.
Activity 12: Ask your patient to point to words and phrases to communicate their feelings and needs. “How are you?” “I love you,” “I need you,” “What’s new?” Expand their ability to communicate by using longer word and phrase combinations.
Activity 13: Ask your patient to point to words and phrases to communicate where they want to go and what they want to do in the community. Point to, “Kitchen,” “Bathroom,” “Shower,” “Go to bank,” Go for drive,” “See my mom.” As they improve, use longer word and phrase combinations.
High-Tech AAC Speech Therapy Activities
High-tech AAC moves beyond simple boards to more complex communication systems.
They can be standard features in your patient’s personal phone, tablet, or computer. Or specialized speech-generating devices and apps.
High-Tech AAC Goal: Patient will generate up to 3-word phrases to communicate complex wants and needs to improve safety and communication abilities in the community in 80% of opportunities with mild cues in 8 weeks.
High-tech communication devices can be used in the same way as a communication board. See the activities above for ideas.
Work toward expanding your patient’s ability to communicate longer word and phrase combinations.
Target using the device in various settings and with various communication partners. Train the patient and their talking partners together to ensure successful communication.
AAC Materials & Trainings
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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.
- Lingraphica. (n.d.) How is aphasia treated? The Aphasia Community. Retrieved August, 2024, from https://www.aphasia.com/aphasia-library/aphasia-treatments
