We support individuals of all ages with congenital or acquired communication differences, including but not limited to:
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Receptive Language Disorders (difficulty understanding communication)
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Expressive Language Disorders (limited to no use of verbal speech, reduced vocabulary repertoire, reduced use of language concepts)
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Pragmatic Disorders (challenges with social interactions)
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Articulation/Phonological Disorders (compromised speech intelligibility, or extent to which he/she is understood by others)
NEAT’s AAC services comprehensively support individuals and teams throughout the consideration, exploration, and implementation processes. Services are completely individualized and are led by a licensed speech-language pathologist. Sessions are conducted in-person, virtually, or through a hybrid delivery approach.
Consultation
An AAC consultation is a semi-formal meeting between an AAC specialist, educators, families, and/or individuals with disabilities and results in a set of suggested tools and/or strategies.
Benefits:
Among other case-specific topics, the following concerns can be addressed during a consultation:
- Can the client benefit from AAC?
- Which features should a client’s AAC device contain?
- Is the client’s existing AAC device appropriate?
- Which alternative access method has the potential for providing a client with physical access to AAC?
If the team would like to request a brief, written summary of the consultation findings, an additional fee will be included. This report cannot be used to request insurance funding of a dedicated AAC device.
Coaching
During AAC Coaching sessions, the AAC Specialist follows current evidence-based practices to guide an individual’s support team towards effectively incorporating the use of an AAC device within daily environments.
Benefits:
- Provides support to expand an individual’s use of an AAC device currently in his/her possession.
- Gives strategies to guide an individual in using AAC to interact for a broad range of communicative functions (i.e. commenting, describing, asking questions, etc.)
- Supports AAC implementation within the realm of academics, social interactions, activities of daily living, home routines, vocational tasks, and more.
Kickstart
A structured fusion of consultation and coaching/training services, an AAC Kickstart provides an individual and his/her support team with direct guidance during the beginning stages of AAC consideration and/or implementation.
Typically, the AAC Kickstart service includes 2 hours of consultation, a written summary of suggested tools, and 2 hours of follow-up coaching/training.
Benefits:
- Provides follow-up support after consultative suggestions are made
- Guides the group towards a meaningful starting point for implementation
- Builds team capacity to continue supporting the individual once the service ends
Evaluation
An AAC evaluation is a formal, multi-step process that results in a set of technology recommendations and/or strategies that are thought to meet the unique needs of the individual.
Benefits:
- Begins with a review of records, individual history, learning modalities, personal preferences, and a pattern of strengths and concerns.
- Utilizes a team approach to identify AAC needs.
- Includes environmental observations and trials with various technology supports.
- Results in a report that summarizes the evaluation process, describes detailed recommendations, and provides research-based strategies/resources to guide implementation.
- Upon request and as applicable, involves support to obtain the recommended device through insurance funding.