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What Is AAC? A Plain-English Guide for Parents

VOIS Team · Updated 23 July 2026

Somewhere in a first meeting with a speech therapist, a teacher, or a paediatrician, the letters "AAC" get mentioned and nobody stops to explain them. You nod, write it down, and Google it in the car afterwards. If that's how you landed here, this is the explanation you were probably hoping for in that meeting.

AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. It's a broad term for any way of communicating that isn't relying purely on spoken words. That's the whole definition — the rest is just detail.

"Augmentative" and "alternative" mean two different things

The word is doing double duty, which is part of why it's confusing.

Augmentative means adding to speech that already exists. A child who can say some words but not enough to be understood might point at a picture to fill in the gaps, or use a few signs alongside the words they do have. The speech isn't being replaced — it's being supported.

Alternative means replacing speech that isn't there, at least for now. A child who is non-verbal or pre-verbal uses AAC as their primary way of expressing what they want and need, whether that's pointing, signing, or pressing a picture that speaks the word aloud.

Most children who use AAC sit somewhere between these two, and that position tends to shift over time. AAC isn't a fixed category a child gets sorted into — it's a toolkit that flexes with however they're communicating that week.

Two broad types: unaided and aided

Every AAC system falls into one of two categories, and it helps to know both exist because most people have only heard of one.

• Unaided AAC uses only the body — gestures, facial expression, sign language. No equipment, no app, nothing to carry around. It's often the very first form of AAC a young child picks up, usually without anyone formally "teaching" it.
• Aided AAC uses something external: a picture card, a laminated board, a dedicated speech-generating device, or an app on a phone or tablet. This is the category most people mean when they say "AAC device," and it's where apps like VOIS fit in.

Aided AAC ranges from a single printed page of pictures to a fully personalised digital board with recorded voice for every word. There isn't a "correct" level to start at — the right starting point depends entirely on the child in front of you.

Who actually uses AAC

Autism is the reason most South African parents first encounter the term, but it's far from the only one. AAC is used by children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, apraxia of speech, developmental language delay, and a range of other conditions that affect spoken communication. It's also used, less often talked about, by adults recovering from a stroke or brain injury, and by anyone who temporarily loses the ability to speak.

The common thread isn't a diagnosis. It's a gap between what someone understands and wants to say, and what their mouth is currently able to produce. AAC exists to close that gap, whatever is causing it.

How to tell if it might be worth exploring

You don't need a formal diagnosis to start considering AAC. Here are a few signs to keep an eye on:

• Your child is eager to communicate—whether by reaching, pulling you towards something, or making intentional sounds—but spoken words aren't happening consistently.
• Both you and your child are feeling frustrated because of the communication barrier.
• A regular professional in your child's life, like a therapist, teacher, or paediatrician, has suggested AAC as a potential option.

Where VOIS fits into this

VOIS is an aided AAC app, built specifically around South African households. Instead of generic symbol libraries and computer-generated voices, every card is a real photo you take yourself, paired with a voice recording — yours, a grandparent's, a sibling's — in whatever language your family actually speaks. It's designed to be the kind of AAC system a family can start building on day one, without waiting for a device to arrive or a subscription to kick in.