ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Janice Light's Four Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Communication Competencies: Linguistic, Social, Operational and Strategic. Janice Light has subsequently added psychosocial factors into her model. These include the AAC user's motivation to use their AAC system, their attitude towards AAC, their confidence in trying to use it in various situations, and their resilience in the face of failure. Two assessment and tracking tools that are recommended are the Functional Communication Profile–Revised and the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Profile. The first one is useful for early on in the AAC assessment and intervention process, and the second is useful for subsequent intervention. Adult AAC users may prefer longer-term targets. Which areas of competence at any one time will depend on the AAC user. This process should be very much needs-led, and guided by discussions with the AAC user, their family and the professionals working with them.
