Laura writes about how her family got started with an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device for their son Ethan – plus, a few important things they’ve learned along the way.

Introducing an AAC device to our non-speaking, autistic five-year-old Ethan has been hands down the best thing we’ve ever done for our family. It’s been life-changing for Ethan. He can now communicate his food and activity requests, tell us when he’s poorly and advocate for himself in situations that he may find overwhelming. He’s been known to press buttons such as ‘finished’, ‘home’ and ‘let’s go to the car’ to communicate his needs to us, and that he is struggling in that specific situation, which is just incredible.

But Ethan’s AAC has also been life-changing for us as his parents. We can finally serve up a meal or do an activity we 100% know our child wants. We get a wonderful insight into his mind by watching in awe as he navigates his device, and we feel more confident sending him off to his specialist school, knowing he can communicate his needs.

Read the full article here.