The Interactive Periodic Table of AAC

The field of augmentative and alternative communication encompasses an enormous range of guiding beliefs, assessment considerations, access methods, instructional strategies, communication functions, and ongoing management tasks. For practitioners, educators, families, and AAC users, navigating this breadth of knowledge can be overwhelming – and gaps in any one area can meaningfully limit a user’s access to communication, language, and participation in everyday life.

In 2012, Kate Ahern published The Periodic Table of AAC as a free, downloadable poster on the blog Teaching Learners with Multiple Needs. Drawing on the metaphor of the periodic table of elements, it organized the core concepts of AAC practice into a single visual framework. The resource was widely adopted by SLPs, educators, and AAC teams worldwide and has been cited and shared across clinical and educational communities for over a decade.

The Interactive Periodic Table of AAC is a fully rebuilt, web-based evolution of that original resource. It organizes over 100 core concepts in AAC practice into a single, navigable framework across six categories: Guiding Beliefs, Communication Competencies, Communication Functions, AAC Management and Support Tasks, Assessment and Access Considerations, and Instructional and Implementation Considerations.

Each element links to a detailed page with plain-language explanation, evidence-based context, and curated links to research, clinical resources, and practitioner guidance. The tool is designed to serve multiple audiences: SLPs and other professionals can use it to audit the comprehensiveness of an AAC support plan or deepen knowledge in an unfamiliar area; educators and paraprofessionals can use it to strengthen implementation; families can use it to advocate more effectively; and AAC users and self-advocates can use it to understand their own rights and options.

The table reflects an evidence-based, rights-based philosophy of AAC practice. Guiding Beliefs include presuming potential, the AAC Bill of Rights, and the principle that AAC does not suppress speech development. Communication Functions recognize that AAC users communicate for the full range of human purposes – not only to make requests, but to argue, pretend, share ideas, express emotions, direct others, and participate in social closeness. Assessment and Access Considerations address the full range of access methods – from direct touch to switch scanning, eye gaze tracking, head tracking, and mouse emulation – while explicitly rejecting the common error of treating vision or any other single factor as a gatekeeper to robust AAC access. Instructional Considerations include strategies supported by research such as aided language modeling, recasting, motor planning approaches, gestalt language processing supports, and the explicit teaching of communication repair.

The tool is fully keyboard-navigable, screen-reader compatible, and accessible on both desktop and mobile devices. It is hosted at a free, publicly accessible URL with no login required.

This short presentation will introduce participants to the Interactive Periodic Table of AAC, walk through its six sections, and demonstrate practical use cases for professionals, families, and teams. Time will be provided for participants to explore the tool and identify elements most relevant to their own learners and caseloads.