Show Notes
AAC modeling in daily routines doesn't have to be perfect to make a meaningful difference. In fact, what if trying to do AAC perfectly is actually getting in the way of doing it consistently? You listen to a podcast, attend a training, and learn all these wonderful strategies for supporting AAC users. You're ready to keep AAC accessible, presume competence, model without expectation, honor all communication, and move beyond requesting. And then Monday morning happens. Someone can't find their backpack, a child needs help opening breakfast, a para calls in sick, and your circle time materials have disappeared. By 10:30, you suddenly realize you haven't modeled AAC once. Sound familiar? Here's the good news. You don't need another thing to add to your day. You need to put AAC into the day you're already having. In this final episode of our AAC Awareness Month series, we're talking about practical ways to build AAC modeling into the routines you're already doing. We'll explore how to make communication accessible during snack, play, circle time, transitions, and all those messy, unpredictable moments that make up real life. Because consistency matters so much more than perfection. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why consistency with AAC modeling can be more challenging than knowing how to model
How to build AAC into daily routines without creating another lesson or activity
Why starting with one routine and a few words can make AAC modeling more manageable
Practical AAC modeling examples for snack, play, circle time, and transitions
How to support multiple AAC users with different communication systems in one classroom
Ways to use low-tech core boards and high-tech AAC devices together
How to help paraprofessionals, substitute teachers, therapists, and families model AAC consistently
Why AAC access matters during dysregulation and challenging moments
How to move away from perfection and focus on meaningful communication opportunities
Making AAC Part of the Day You're Already Having When I recently asked my community what was hardest about AAC modeling, 49% said remembering to model throughout the day. Another 42% shared that they knew what to do but struggled with consistency. That tells us something important. This isn't always a knowledge problem. Sometimes it's an implementation problem. AAC can start to feel like one more intervention, one more lesson, or one more thing to remember. But AAC isn't supposed to be another activity. It's communication, and communication is already happening throughout the day. Instead of asking, "When am I going to fit AAC into my day?" we can start asking, "Where is communication already happening?" And the answer is everywhere! Start With One Routine If you've been struggling to model AAC consistently, please don't leave this episode thinking you need to model AAC all day long starting tomorrow. You'll probably do it beautifully until about 9:17, and then real life will happen. Instead, pick one routine that already happens every day. Maybe it's snack, play, arrival, circle time, bath time, or getting ready to go outside. Then choose a few words you can naturally model during that routine. For example, during snack you might model OPEN, MORE, YUM, HELP, DON'T LIKE, or DONE. If someone drops something, there's an opportunity for UH-OH! And if someone takes the last cracker? Maybe NO! During play with cars, you might model GO, STOP, FAST, CRASH, AGAIN, or MY TURN. You don't need to model every word. Pick one or two, model them naturally, and keep playing. The same approach works during transitions and circle time. A word like GO can be modeled during a song, while turning a page in a book, or later when children are playing outside. Now that word isn't living inside an AAC lesson. It's living inside life. And remember, we're not asking children to copy us or prove they know the word. We're simply showing them another way to communicate about what's happening. Suppo
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Understanding the different communicative functions of AAC means looking beyond "I want" and helping autistic preschoolers communicate what really matters to them. Their family celebrates when Lily says NO. That's what Stefanie, Lily's mom, told me, and this week you'll hear her tell it herself. Including the morning Lily looked at her mom and said, "Words inside." This is week four of our AAC Awareness Month series, and it picks up right where last week's episode on modeling without expectation left off. Once we're modeling AAC, the next question is: modeling what? So much AAC still centers on requesting. I want bubbles. I want cracker. Requesting matters. But it's just one of many communicative functions, and in AAC it often gets most of our attention. In this episode, I'm asking a bigger question. Not "Can this child give me the response I'm looking for?" but "Does this child have a way to express their own thoughts?" You'll hear autistic AAC user Jordyn Zimmerman describe what robust communication lets her do, and we'll talk about choice versus agency, what it really means to honor NO, and why protest is communication too. Because communication isn't really communication if the only messages we're willing to accept are the ones we want the child to say. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why requesting is just one tiny part of communication
What color is it? Where's the dog? Show me red. Tell me with your talker. If you support AAC users, you might be really good at quiz mode. I know I was. As an SLP, I was trained to elicit responses. I wanted repetitions. I wanted data. I wanted to know: can they do it? And here's the tricky part: quiz mode feels like teaching. We're trying to help. But communication isn't supposed to feel like a test all day. This is part 3 of our AAC Month series. Last week, in Episode 195, we talked about why children don't need to prove they're "ready" for AAC. When I asked where you get stuck, more than one in four of you said the same thing: what do I do when I model and the child does absolutely nothing? That's what this episode is about. I'm sharing what modeling without expectation really looks like, why silence doesn't necessarily mean nothing is happening, and what to do in that quiet moment instead of asking again. You'll also hear two clips from my friend Rachel Madel, SLP, whose phrase "inspire, don't require" sums up this whole conversation. Because we're teaching language. We're not administering a test. In This Episode, You'll Learn What modeling without expectation looks like in everyday play, like a car going down a ramp
As we continue AAC Awareness Month, I want to talk about an idea that kept far too many children from getting access to robust communication for far too long: The idea that a child has to be "ready" for AAC. Maybe they need to point first. Match pictures. Understand cause and effect. Show intentional communication. Sit and attend. Or start with something "simpler" before they can have access to a robust AAC system. Many of us were actually trained to think this way. I was too. But today we know something really important: there are no prerequisites for robust AAC. Access is the first step — not the reward. In this episode, we'll talk about what it really means to give children access to AAC before expecting them to perform with it. We'll also look at some of the things that can make adults wonder whether AAC is "working" — like repeatedly pushing the same button, not responding after we model, or even pushing the device away — and what might happen when we replace judgment with curiosity. In this episode, we talk about: Why children do not have to prove they're "ready" for AAC
A quick heads up before you listen: Jordyn prepared some answers ahead of time and responded to others in real time, so you'll hear pauses between each question and Jordyn's answer. I challenge you to resist the urge to fast-forward through the wait time. Sitting with that silence is one of the most important skills of a good communication partner — in this episode, and in your classroom.
When an autistic child is melting down, refusing, running away, or saying "no," what looks like challenging behavior may actually be a stress response or an important form of communication. In this episode, Tara is revisiting the way we think about behavior in autistic preschoolers and asking us to look underneath what we can see on the outside. Instead of starting with "How do I stop this behavior?" we can get curious about what the child's nervous system may be communicating. Are they overwhelmed? Is the environment unpredictable? Are they trying to tell us no? Do they have a communication system that allows them to advocate for what they need? Because when we understand behavior as communication, our response changes too. Is It Behavior or a Stress Response? What adults call "behavior" may actually be an autistic child responding to stress, overwhelm, an unmet need, or an environment that feels difficult to navigate. Looking beyond the observable behavior helps us understand what the child may be communicating and what support they need. The goal isn't to simply make the behavior disappear. It's to understand what is happening underneath it. How Does Stress Affect Autistic Children? Stress can have a significant impact on an autistic child's ability to regulate, communicate, participate, and learn. Sensory overload, unpredictable routines, communication barriers, demands, and environmental changes can all increase stress. When that stress builds, we may see crying, yelling, running away, shutting down, pushing something away, or other responses adults sometimes label as challenging behavior. Instead of viewing those responses in isolation, we can ask what happened before them and what the child may need from us now. Is Behavior a Form of Communication? Yes. Behavior can communicate needs, discomfort, overwhelm, fear, frustration, or a desire for something to stop. For an autistic preschooler who may not yet have reliable access to spoken language or another communication system in a stressful moment, their actions may be one of the clearest ways they have to tell us something is wrong. When we view behavior as communication, we become less focused on stopping it and more interested in understanding the message. Why Is Protest Important for Autistic Children? Protest is communication, and autistic children need safe, reliable ways to say no, stop, all done, or "I don't want this." A child turning away, pushing something aside, moving away, saying no, or communicating distress may be telling us something important. Honoring protest helps children learn that their communication matters. Self-advocacy starts much earlier than adulthood. It begins when children learn that the people around them will listen when they communicate that something does not feel right. What Is the Difference Between Compliance and Connection? Compliance-focused approaches prioritize getting a child to follow an adult's direction. Connection-focused approaches prioritize understanding the child, identifying unmet needs, supporting communication, and creating an environment where the child feels safe enough to engage. That does not mean children never experience expectations, boundaries, or difficult moments. It means our first question becomes "What does this child need?" rather than "How do I make this child comply?" How Does Co-Regulation Help an Autistic Child? Co-regulation happens when a supportive adult helps a child move through stress by offering calm, connection, predictability, and safety. Young children are still developing their ability to regulate independently. During stressful moments, they may need us to reduce language, adjust the environment, acknowledge their communication, and stay present without adding more pressure. Regulation develops within relationships. We don't have to demand that a child calm down before we offer support. How Can We Support Autistic Children During Stress Responses? Supporting stre