#TalkingAAC 2025

Presenters: Melissa Tapia, MS, CCC-SLP and Maria De Leon, MS, CCC-SLP
Understanding an individual's culture benefits language acquisition and other cognitive skills (Restrepo, Morgan, & Thompson, 2013; Soto & Yu, 2014; Gay, 2002). Realistically, most SLPs will not know all of their clients' languages and cultures on their caseload. However, as clinical providers, we can choose therapy approaches and tools appropriate for our multilingual AAC users. Language learning outcomes have less to do with the number of languages an individual learns. Instead, it is about the conditions under which language is learned; this includes the level of support for bilingualism/multilingualism in all environments, the quality of exposure to multiple languages, and the types of measures used to monitor language growth (Soto & Yu, 2014). The support for bilingualism in AAC is best practice and, more importantly, essential to equitable communication access for people with complex communication needs (CCN) (Mcnamara, 2018). It has been shown that forced monolingualism may lead to poor communication between the AAC user, their families, and their community. It can impede learning opportunities and socialization that arises from family, community, and cultural exchanges (Kremer-Sadlik, 2005; Peña, 2016). Therefore, this session describes current issues, myths, and considerations for culturally affirming AAC service provision. We will highlight resources that are readily available through reputable AAC sources. It will consider evidence-based practices for Spanish-bilingual AAC intervention and describe Latinx cultural perspectives. This session will outline AAC intervention tools for supporting Spanish-bilingual communicators and their families. Participants will be able to reflect on their current service delivery of AAC and add appropriate tools to enhance their execution of culturally affirming practices.