AAC During Food Prep-A Guest Post with a Visual Recipe
AAC and Food Prep
What is AAC? For those of you who don’t know what AAC is, AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. As a speech language pathologist, I have specialized in the area of AAC for the past twenty years.
I have also loved to combine my love for language during mealtime and AAC. I have written several articles about the topic. To read my articles about AAC and Mealtime, see below.
How to Use the Language of Baking
5 Ways to Get Your Child with Special Needs Involved in the Kitchen
10 Speech and Language Goals to Target During Food Prep
Using Menus as a Treatment Tool
The guest post below discusses the importance of teaching Core Vocabulary. To learn more about AAC, check my YouTube Channel with parent coaching videos here!
Do you want to learn more about AAC and Mealtime? Watch my video below!
To learn more about my Core Puzzle, click here.
Guest Post by Communication Community
I am excited to share this guest post written by two speech language pathologists, Becca and Kristi from Communication Community. Communication Community is a wonderful website sharing ideas for parents, therapists, educators and caregivers about AAC. I love sharing and collaborating with other speech language pathologist that share my passion for communication and AAC! The symbols used in this recipe are from Symbol Stix Prime. To learn more about Symbol Stix, click here.
Making Trail Mix
AAC systems can be incredibly helpful and improve the life of individuals who use them and their loved ones, but using them effectively is a common challenge. It can take a lot of time and instruction for an individual to learn how to use their AAC system, and sometimes may seem overwhelming. We get that! One way to learn how to use AAC systems is by meaningfully incorporating them into everyday tasks, like food prep. Below is an overview of core vocabulary in AAC, followed by a food prep activity that incorporates using AAC throughout the process. Read, create, then enjoy!
Core Vocabulary and AAC
Core vocabulary or core words continue to be a focus when teaching language to individuals using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. In our previous article, we discussed how core vocabulary comprises approximately 80% of the words that we say each day. That is a huge proportion of the words we use to communicate, which is why research has consistently shown teaching core vocabulary to be an integral part of using AAC. Let’s take a look at some core word examples:
One of the primary reasons that core vocabulary is incorporated into AAC implementation and vocabulary systems is because core vocabulary is often flexible and conceptual; indicating that the meaning of the word is relevant across multiple contexts. Cue – frequent teachable language opportunities! Core word focus using AAC systems allows users to have access to more flexible language that can be used and combined in a variety of ways. Take certain self-advocacy words/phrases, for example. Often, these words (e.g., “help” , “I want”), are incorporated into core word instruction because there are a variety of opportunities across contexts (where this language is relevant) to elicit this language. Think about how many requests a young individual can make a day to get their wants and needs met (e.g., mealtimes, wanting access to toys/leisure items, requesting an item out of reach)… that’s a lot of teachable opportunities!
Additionally, as AAC users expand their core vocabulary repertoires, they can learn to string words together with other core or fringe words (e.g., “I need help” ; “I want to go outside”). Find more about core and fringe words here.
Core Words Practice using AAC: Making a Snack
So let’s talk about implementation. How as caregivers/clinicians can we capitalize on these numerous daily living situations to include core word practice? Let’s narrow down to a mealtime opportunity: making trail mix. What I like about this snack is that it is modifiable for any sort of dietary/allergy restrictions and recipes can change to include whatever different food choices you would like. Further, trail mix is a task that can also incorporate turn taking (e.g., each individual is responsible for putting their assigned ingredient into the bag that is passed around) and following a sequence that can be altered/modified (aka – the recipe). See below for our sample trail mix recipe or checkout our PDF with supporting visuals:
4-Step Trail Mix Recipe
AAC systems can be incredibly helpful and improve the life of individuals who use them and their loved ones, but using them effectively is a common challenge. It can take a lot of time and instruction for an individual to learn how to use their AAC system, and sometimes may seem overwhelming. We get that! One way to learn how to use AAC systems is by meaningfully incorporating them into everyday tasks, like food prep. Below is an overview of core vocabulary in AAC, followed by a food prep activity that incorporates using AAC throughout the process. Read, create, then enjoy!
Core Vocabulary and AAC
Core vocabulary or core words continue to be a focus when teaching language to individuals using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. In our previous article, we discussed how core vocabulary comprises approximately 80% of the words that we say each day. That is a huge proportion of the words we use to communicate, which is why research has consistently shown teaching core vocabulary to be an integral part of using AAC. Let’s take a look at some core word examples:
One of the primary reasons that core vocabulary is incorporated into AAC implementation and vocabulary systems is because core vocabulary is often flexible and conceptual; indicating that the meaning of the word is relevant across multiple contexts. Cue – frequent teachable language opportunities! Core word focus using AAC systems allows users to have access to more flexible language that can be used and combined in a variety of ways. Take certain self-advocacy words/phrases, for example. Often, these words (e.g., “help” , “I want”), are incorporated into core word instruction because there are a variety of opportunities across contexts (where this language is relevant) to elicit this language. Think about how many requests a young individual can make a day to get their wants and needs met (e.g., mealtimes, wanting access to toys/leisure items, requesting an item out of reach)… that’s a lot of teachable opportunities!
Additionally, as AAC users expand their core vocabulary repertoires, they can learn to string words together with other core or fringe words (e.g., “I need help” ; “I want to go outside”). Find more about core and fringe words here.
Core Words Practice using AAC: Making a Snack
So let’s talk about implementation. How as caregivers/clinicians can we capitalize on these numerous daily living situations to include core word practice? Let’s narrow down to a mealtime opportunity: making trail mix. What I like about this snack is that it is modifiable for any sort of dietary/allergy restrictions and recipes can change to include whatever different food choices you would like. Further, trail mix is a task that can also incorporate turn taking (e.g., each individual is responsible for putting their assigned ingredient into the bag that is passed around) and following a sequence that can be altered/modified (aka – the recipe). See below for our sample trail mix recipe or checkout our PDF with supporting visuals:
Visual Recipe Here!
To print and download the pdf, click here Trail-Mix-Recipe
How do I implement Core Words during Food Prep?
Responding to questions
This is an opportunity for the AAC user to respond to wh- questions (e.g., “What is it?” → “Peanuts”, “Where is [ingredient]?” → “In pantry”) using a variety of core and/or fringe words. This allows the individual to work on navigating through categorically-related (and sometimes sub categorically-related) folders within their AAC system, too. Think: Food/Drink folder with subcategories nuts or candy. Additionally, AAC users can also work on responding to various Yes/No questions, such as: “Do we need apples for this recipe?” or “Should we add more chocolate?”
Core word examples
“yes” “no”
Requesting items
Almost every step of the recipe can serve as some form of opportunity to request a food item, using a carrier phrase such as, “I want [ingredient]” or “I would like [ingredient].” Vary use of these phrases to increase different forms of language used for making requests. But remember, ingredients aren’t the only items to request! Create opportunities to elicit directive phrases like, “Give me bowl” or “Give me spoon.”
Core word examples
“I” “want”
“I” “like”
“Give” “me”
Using prepositions
Prepositions can be incorporated expressively using AAC, e.g., “In” and “out” being two of the more commonly used words in this context (e.g., “Put in”, “Take out”) as well as receptively – like when following a series of directions. Provide some opportunities for the AAC user to give you the direction to follow the recipe (e.g., “What do I put in now?” → “Put in raisins”).
Core word examples
“in” “out” “open”
Requesting assistance, as needed
Words like “help” to indicate assistance can be one of the most important words to teach and generalize across contexts. “Help” serves as a crucial self-advocacy phrase and provides an introduction to self-navigating problems. Create opportunities for the AAC user to require use of this phrase, like sealing an ingredient bag too tight so that the individual will require assistance opening, or placing something out of reach. This skill can be expanded to include having the AAC user tell the individual helping what they need them to do, e.g., “Open bag” (hey, that’s preposition work too!).
Core word examples
“I” “need” “help”
Lastly, let’s not forget what you can do to model as the clinician/caregiver! For demonstrating use of novel vocabulary (especially for beginning users), incorporate aided language stimulation (i.e., modeling words within natural context using AAC system) into this practice whenever you can. This may mean you navigate their pages and press the buttons for words/phrases such as “I want” or “Help.” Individuals learn spoken language via hearing the words spoken by others, so they can learn AAC systems by hearing/seeing how they are used by others. The more you expose the AAC user to this, the more opportunities you are allowed to demonstrate the use of language within and across the appropriate contexts. Remember, you don’t always have to use grammatically correct sentences either! Start small with core words and expand from there.
Enjoy your summer snack!
