Phonics and AAC

Many non-speaking children use Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) strategies. These systems enable them to select pictures to express themselves, ranging from paper-based symbol grids to voice output devices (talkers) that generate spoken words. Most talkers feature an on-screen keyboard, and I am frequently asked about its use in literacy instruction.

Many of these keyboards include a voice output function so that when a child presses a key, the talker vocalizes the letter name. In phonics instruction, our focus is on helping the child learn the alphabetic code and the skills needed to manage it effectively. Therefore, understanding how sounds (phonemes) relate to letters, rather than knowing letter names, is essential. Using the keyboard in this manner may not support the child's comprehension of the alphabetic code and may cause confusion. Further insight on this topic can be found in John Walker’s blog: https://theliteracyblog.com/2021/01/08/sounds-or-letter-names-an-update/.

It is possible to program the keyboard to vocalize sounds corresponding to basic sound-letter relationships. This method can be effective when the child is working at a basic level, spelling simple VC (vowel-consonant) and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, such as "man" or "cat". However, complications arise when the child progresses to more complex aspects of the code. For instance, if the child is learning about the /sh/ sound, represented by the letters "s" and "h", and attempts to spell the word "shop", which comprises three sounds: /sh/, /o/, /p/. The voice output they hear would be /s/, /h/, /o/, /p/, rather than /sh/, /o/, /p/, potentially causing confusion regarding the nature of the alphabetic code.

But there is a wider issue at play here. Writing this blog was a response to a question from a parent, who was told by their child’s school that they ‘use the phonetic keyboard on their AAC devices to adapt the phonics program’. This is a bit of a woolly statement.

Phonics instruction involves multiple facets, encompassing the processes of decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) words. Children need to learn that:

·       graphemes (letters) represent phonemes,

·       during reading, graphemes are translated into sounds and blended to form words,

·       when spelling, spoken words are segmented into phonemes, with each matched to a grapheme,

·       some graphemes are made up of more than one letter,

·       some phonemes are represented by more than one grapheme,

·       some graphemes may represent different sounds.

While a phonetic keyboard may assist in spelling simple words, it does not facilitate responses in other areas of phonics instruction.

The solution lies in employing diverse strategies to enable phonics access, allowing children to demonstrate their growing understanding and knowledge of the alphabetic code, their abilities in blending, segmenting, and phoneme manipulation, and their capacity to read and spell words and increasingly complex sentences and text. Fortunately, these strategies are low-tech and do not necessitate expensive equipment or complex technology.

These strategies are discussed in my book Access to Phonics, and they include:

·       Simple picture matching

·       Utilizing a movable alphabet

·       Employing single message symbols

·       Using desktop manipulatives such as letter sliders or flippies

·       Implementing visual place markers to provide auditory choices

These methods are adaptable and user-friendly, suitable for use in any stage of a child’s phonics program.

Being non-speaking should not hinder a child from accessing high-quality phonics instruction necessary to become proficient readers and writers.