AAC in the IEP: What Families Can Ask For

If your child gets special education services in a US public school, their Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the main place to make sure their AAC is used, supported, and paid for at school. This guide explains what the law says in plain words and what you can ask for at the next meeting. It is general information, not legal advice. Rules are applied differently from state to state.

The IEP team must think about assistive technology

The federal special education law (IDEA) says the IEP team must consider whether every child needs assistive technology devices and services. AAC is assistive technology. If your child has trouble being understood, you can ask the team to talk about AAC at any IEP meeting, and you can ask for an AAC evaluation in writing.

Where AAC belongs in the IEP

• Present levels: how your child communicates today, in every way they do (speech, signs, gestures, pointing, the device), and what helps.
• Goals: communication goals written so that the device counts. For example, "will use their AAC system to ask for help" instead of "will say help."
• Supplementary aids and services: the device itself, a charged backup, a low-tech board, and a mount or case if needed.
• Services: speech therapy that includes AAC, and time for the SLP to program vocabulary and train staff.
• Training: assistive technology services can include training for the child, the family, and the staff who work with them.

The device should go home

A voice that stays at school is not a voice. IDEA says that if the IEP team decides a child needs to use school-purchased assistive technology at home or in other settings to get a free appropriate public education, the school must allow it. If the team agrees, ask for it to be written into the IEP so it does not depend on one person remembering.

Questions to bring to the meeting

1. Who will make sure the device is charged, updated, and with my child all day, including lunch, recess, and the bus?
2. Who programs new vocabulary, and how will I know what was added?
3. How will staff model on the device during class, not only in speech therapy?
4. What is the plan if the device breaks or is left at home?
5. How will we share what is working between home and school?

Your state has a free Parent Training and Information Center that can help you get ready for an IEP meeting. Want help with something specific on the device itself? Open the chat and ask.