Abstract
This chapter surveys two basic tools for bypassing the most severe language and speech deficits: augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools and assistive tools. It discusses the various forms of AAC, particularly high-tech speech generating devices. It reviews specific high-tech AAC programs, from those with simpler interfaces that allow only limited communication, to those with complex interfaces that allow longer sentences with grammatical features. It discusses two different strategies for optimizing user interface—category-based strategies (e.g., the Proloquo2Go programs) and motor-planning-based strategies (e.g., the LAMP programs)—and their various pros and cons. It then turns to what the efficacy data shows about boosting communicative skills and behaviors. It then reviews various assistive tools: first, those that transition users from AAC to typing; then, those that only support users through word prediction. It concludes with caveats about how AAC and assistive tools should not de-incentive linguistic instruction or undermine independent communication.