School’s out! Are we prepared for everyday life: today, tomorrow and beyond

Abstract

Often we view our school years as a golden period of life.  Not because they were easy, enjoyable or fun, but because they offered routine, structure and support.  Frequently, we don’t value something until its gone.  For adult AAC users the bigger questions are what was it we valued, why did it matter, and were we prepared for life without it?

Education can provide AAC users with community and a place of learning; an environment to belong, feel connected and where they can thrive.  Schools play an important role in developing personal, peer, social, and cultural identity (Brown et al., 2025). This is especially important for AAC users, who may have fewer community peers.

Yet, AAC users report once they transition into adulthood they discover they have not had the support needed to fulfil their aspirations. (Hewson & Moulam, 2024).  Many leave education expecting to work, live independently, run their own team of assistants, maintain their own technology and were build friendships and relationships.  In reality they were so busy in school meeting curriculum challenges their futures were rarely planned for.  The short-term gain overshadowed the long-term needs.

There is a plethora of barriers to success in adulthood: policy, societal and cultural practices, attitudes, a lack of trained professionals to support adult AAC users, limited training for communication partners, and constantly evolving technology (Light et al., 2025).  A wide range of research priorities have been suggested to address these challenges, which is welcome. Unfortunately research takes time and money. Having identified the challenges there now needs to be practical help for AAC users, creating programmes that support their individual development in the real world.

This cliff edge around transitioning into adulthood might result from an immature community, AAC remains relatively new. We have built an education system to support children, now we need an adult world that matches their ambitions and higher expectations. This session will explore will draw on lived experiences of what real preparation might look like in schools using concrete examples and what adult services and wider society can contribute to fulfilling the aspirations of individual AAC users.   AAC users need to continue to feel connected and belong in adult life.

The important task now is not for the system to catch up, we must to listen to AAC users in every aspect of their lives now. Until we do, AAC users will continue to graduate into a world not ready to support them.

References:

Brown, C., Douthwaite, A., Donnelly, M., & Olaniyan, Y. D. (2025). Resilience Through Belonging: Schools’ Role in Promoting the Mental Health and Well-Being of Children and Young People. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 15(10), 1421. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15101421

Hewson, H, and Moulam, B. (2024) ‘Our Futures: Workshops Findings’ Communication Matters Journal, Vol 38 (2) August 2024.

Light, J., Fager, S. K., Gormley, J., Hyatt, G. W., & Jakobs, E. (2025). Dismantling societal barriers that limit people who need or use AAC: lived experiences, key research findings, and future directions. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 41(3), 230-244.