Here is a form I came up with to help personalize AAC communication systems in my district. I really wanted a way to get parent input as to the best ways to customize devices to fit their needs. My hope is that this will help families “buy in” to the idea that AAC is meant to be with the child at all times and serve as that person’s voice.

I based this form off of the PODD system, but these questions could easily apply to any device. I refer to the AAC user as “student” because I’m in a school. The more collaboration you have (including the AAC user to whatever extent possible) in choosing vocabulary, the better.

There are a couple of questions that I wouldn’t typically include – for example asking whether or not a parent would want undergarments or religion included on their device – but because I work in a school, I want to make sure that I’m not making parents uncomfortable or crossing any legal boundaries. That being said, my true belief is that we should never omit words because they are uncomfortable (we can’t unteach that swear word to a toddler). Best practice says to keep them in.

Here it is – let me know what you think. Are there other tools out there to help customize vocabulary selection? AACPersonalizationForm