How does communication via AAC Change in Teen Years?

Focus

As AAC users enter the teen years, questions grow around their social development and continued language growth. Given the shift in social expectations and pressure that comes with adolescence, what does the data tell us about how teens are using AAC, and how can SLPs apply this to therapy goals during this age range?

Respondents

We pulled ages 13-19 from a larger AAC dataset that is predominantly pediatric. The teen segment includes 441 male users (75.5%) and 143 female users (24.5%). The top three diagnostic categories are Autistic Disorder (206), Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder (184), and Expressive Language Disorder (144). The survey was completed by each user’s primary caregiver. All respondents use a QuickTalker Freestyle device paired with a range of software, including TouchChat, Proloquo2Go, TD Snap, and LAMP Words for Life.

Key Findings

• Daily use holds strong into the teen years. 65% of teens use their device daily, and nearly two-thirds of those use it across multiple environments (home, school, community). Only 3.9% have stopped using the device altogether, notably lower than the roughly one-third abandonment rate commonly cited in AAC literature (ASHA, 2018). Although this may partly reflect that engaged, satisfied families are more likely to keep responding to surveys.
• Communication functions are growing, but not equally. Requesting saw the largest reported increase (77%), while commenting saw the smallest (43%), with the highest share of teens “not yet using” that function. This mirrors a pattern researchers have already flagged: reviews of AAC intervention research for adolescents note that requesting has dominated the field’s focus, and call for more attention to functions like commenting, greeting, and social closeness (Holyfield et al., 2017).
• Verbal speech is growing alongside AAC, not shrinking. 45% of teens showed increased verbal speech, and only 1.9% showed a decrease. This lines up with a body of research finding that AAC intervention does not suppress speech and may support it, with gains in speech production seen across a wide age range (Millar, Light, & Schlosser, 2006).
• Families report high satisfaction, with a minority still underserved. 83% of caregivers report being satisfied or very satisfied with the device, though close to 12% report being unsatisfied or very unsatisfied. This is important to note and investigate further into this point.

Takeaways

As teens using AAC move into more demanding academic and social environments, this study shows that communication functions grow, but unevenly. Requesting develops fastest, while more socially complex functions like commenting lag behind, consistent with a known gap in the field’s research focus. This could be a result of a natural hierarchy of language development or due to an increased focus on requesting in younger AAC users. SLPs working with this age group should consider prioritizing goals beyond basic requesting, building in explicit targets for commenting, opinion-sharing, and social closeness, since these functions are less likely to develop without direct attention. The verbal speech findings also offer a useful, current data point for reassuring families that AAC use is not holding back their teen’s spoken language.

Methodology

Data was collected via caregiver-completed survey (SurveyMonkey) across multiple waves in 2025-26, drawn from a larger longitudinal AAC outcomes dataset. The teen segment (ages 13-19, n=584) was isolated from the full sample for this analysis. All respondents use the QuickTalker Freestyle device. Findings should be generalized to other AAC devices with caution. Data is caregiver-reported rather than derived from standardized clinical assessment, and response rates varied by question (see individual finding notes for applicable n). Respondents are self-selected, which may skew the sample toward more engaged or more satisfied families than the general AAC-using population.

References

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2018). Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Practice Portal.

Holyfield, C., Drager, K. D. R., Kremkow, J. M. D., & Light, J. (2017). Systematic review of AAC intervention research for adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 33(4), 201-212.

Millar, D., Light, J., & Schlosser, R. (2006). The impact of augmentative and alternative communication intervention on the speech production of individuals with developmental disabilities: A research review. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 248-264.