Aided language input, or modeling, has become the go-to intervention for teaching AAC. Communication partners are generally encouraged to adopt several modeling strategies, including emphasizing core words, modeling only key words, attributing meaning, verbal referencing, and modeling a slightly longer message than the user can produce. The goal is to replicate how speaking children learn language through receptive input. However, modeling AAC is difficult and most communication partners end up modeling very little.

In this session, we will question whether many common modeling strategies align with the receptive input received by speaking children. We will propose a practical alternative modeling approach that is based in the study of “motherese”, early language development, and the cognitive and developmental needs of both communication partners and AAC users.