Augmentative and Alternative Communication in CAS Interventions
Nicoletta Luciani
Children with a phonetic-phonological disorder, including CAS (childhood apraxia of speech), may be unintelligible even to family members. Therefore, in addition to the need to address their specific difficulty, they also need support to communicate and interact effectively with those around them. The augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) approach represents an immediate response to the need to communicate in an ecological environment such as play, which is severely compromised in these children. It helps develop functional communication, improve verbal production, and develop communicative skills that cannot be practiced orally. They must be able to participate actively. For the intervention to be effective, it must be implemented in all contexts of the child’s life and must be combined with specific interventions.
Keywords
CAS; AAC; Participation; Play; Communicative competence.
