Teaching · Special Education

Which messages get across, and which ones need a better way.

Mark how the student asks, refuses, gets attention, comments and says how they feel, at home and at school. The organizer names the messages that happen only through behavior or not at all. Switch to full planning and it adds vocabulary, features to try and a trial plan with a way to tell whether it works.

Start an organizerWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Special Education toolkit, $99 for 100 items.

The AAC organizer

Choose screening for a quick look or full planning for an assessment; the sections change to match. Records use initials or a code. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Special EducationAlso for Teaching · Speech & Language$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For each student, a record of how they communicate now and the main way each of nine everyday messages gets across at home and at school, with vision, hearing and access needs. In full planning mode, the core and personal words to model first, the features to try and a trial plan with a measure of success. The summary names the messages that happen only through behavior or not at all.
Who it is for
Special education teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and IEP teams considering AAC for a student with complex communication needs; families contributing what they see at home.
Format
Browser organizer in two depths, screening or full planning. Several saved records; printed with the summary or as a blank form; CSV with one row per student; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Special Education toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching; also listed in the Speech & Language space (speech-language pathologists lead most AAC assessments).
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
stopSTOP
Drawn for this page. When a student has a quick, clear way to say stop, they no longer need to push someone away to say it.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with the student’s initials or a code and choose screening or full planning.
  2. Mark every way the student gets a message across now, and how well unfamiliar people understand their speech.
  3. In the grid, mark the main way each message happens at home and at school. Keys work: s, g, p, b, n.
  4. Note vision, hearing and how the student selects with their hands.
  5. In full planning, choose the first core words, list personal words, the features to try and a trial with a measure of success, then print for the team.

Start an organizer

What the organizer is for

IEP teams must consider it

Under IDEA, the IEP team must consider the communication needs of every child with an IEP and whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services, which include AAC. Schools must make sure assistive technology is available when the IEP calls for it. This organizer gathers what the team needs to have that discussion; it does not pick a device.

No prerequisites

There are no skills a student must show before AAC is tried; ASHA and AAC researchers reject a readiness model. Behavior that carries a message, such as pushing away to say stop, is communication, and a faster, clearer way to say the same thing is often the first target. A trial over several weeks, with a way to tell whether it works, comes before choosing a system.

Two titles, one organizer

The catalog listed an AAC needs screening organizer and an AAC needs assessment organizer. They describe the same job at two depths, so this page does both: choose screening or full planning at the top. Records use a code, never a name, and stay in this browser.

Sources

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.5 and 300.6 (assistive technology device and service), 300.105 (availability), 300.324(a)(2)(iv) and (v) (consider communication needs and assistive technology).
  2. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice Portal: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (asha.org/practice-portal).
  3. Beukelman, D. R., and Light, J. C. (2020). Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Supporting Children and Adults With Complex Communication Needs (5th ed.). Baltimore: Brookes, on the Participation Model.
  4. National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities (2016). Communication Bill of Rights; and Brady, N. C., et al. (2016), American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 121(2), 121–138.
  5. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99.

The example student is made up. The organizer gathers information for a team; it does not choose a device, assess the student or decide eligibility, and it holds no state rules. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.