202. When AAC Feels Hard, It’s Working: What Effective Clinicians Do Differently

If you work with children who are minimally speaking with autism or you love a child who is minimally speaking, today’s episode matters. Over the past year, I’ve been doing something deeply intentional. I’ve been having long, honest conversations with speech pathologists and special education teachers who are truly effective with high-tech AAC. These weren’t quick chats. Each interview ran over an hour. I asked open-ended questions. I pushed for specifics. I wanted to know what is actually working for robust AAC systems with thousands of words. What I found surprised me. There was no magic training. No perfect certification. No secret setting hidden inside the device. What these highly effective professionals shared was something much more human. They believed in themselves enough to try. To fail. To troubleshoot. To look clumsy. To learn alongside the child. In this episode, I talk about why vulnerability is the real needle mover in AAC implementation. I share why modeling uncertainty, curiosity, and joy matters more than appearing fluent. Showing a child how you search for a word, celebrate finding it, or flexibly choose an alternative builds far more communication power than perfection ever could. We discuss treating AAC as play, not performance. About using devices the way we use books with young children as interactive tools meant to spark connection, not test correctness. I also connect what I’m seeing in my dissertation research to real-life practice. Across hours of transcripts and coding, the same theme kept surfacing. Fluency doesn’t come from training. It comes from hands-on experience. Repetition. Messy, imperfect action. This episode will challenge you to rethink comfort zones, to stop waiting until you feel ready, and to remember that communication growth begins when adults are willing to learn out loud. If AAC has ever felt overwhelming, intimidating, or like something you were supposed to already have mastered, this conversation is for you. And if you want ready-to-use, engaging, and effective activities that make AAC implementation doable in real sessions, join the SIS Membership. Weekly resources arrive in your inbox so you can spend less time prepping and more time modeling, exploring, and connecting with your kids. You can learn more and join at https://www.kellyvess.com/sis Thank you for being part of this work. Roll up your sleeves. Be vulnerable. And keep changing lives one child at a time.