What to do when words don’t come fast enough

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
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What to do when words don’t come fast enough

When children find talking hard, parents often face a difficult question: ‘Should we wait and keep encouraging speech? Or introduce something like AAC?’

AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) can sound intimidating, but it simply means any way we support or replace spoken words, from simple gestures and picture boards to high-tech speech-generating devices. Far from ‘giving up on speech,’ AAC often becomes the bridge that helps children find their voice, in whatever form that takes.

💡 What is AAC, really?

AAC is a spectrum of tools and strategies that help people express themselves when speaking is difficult. It might include:

  • Low-tech supports: Gestures, key word signs (like Makaton), picture symbols, or printed boards
  • High-tech systems: Apps on tablets that speak aloud when pictures or words are tapped

AAC is not just for children who will never talk. It’s for anyone whose speech isn’t meeting their communication needs right now.

🤔 When to introduce AAC

There’s a common myth that you should only try AAC after ‘exhausting’ other speech therapy options. In fact, AAC can be introduced at any stage, even alongside speech development.

Here are some helpful signs that AAC might support your child:

  • Your child understands much more than they can say.
  • They rely on gestures, sounds, or behaviour to communicate.
  • They become frustrated trying to express themselves.
  • You find yourself ‘reading their mind’ to interpret needs.
  • Speech progress feels slow or inconsistent.

If you recognise these patterns, AAC isn’t a ‘last resort’. It’s a communication support, not a replacement for speech.

Recent research consistently shows that AAC does not stop children from talking. In fact, it can encourage speech to develop. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that children who received interventions combining naturalistic developmental behavioural approaches with aided AAC showed improved language outcomes, and that AAC ‘does not negatively impact speech development and may even facilitate spoken language growth’ (Smith et al., 2024).

🌉 How AAC supports speech development

Speech and AAC aren’t competing paths: they’re parallel tracks that often feed each other.

Here’s how AAC helps speech grow:

  1. Reduces frustration: When a child can express their needs, they’re more relaxed and ready to learn.
  2. Provides a visual model: Seeing symbols or words while hearing spoken language strengthens understanding and word recall.
  3. Builds consistent language structure: AAC systems follow the same grammar and word order as speech, helping children internalise how sentences work.
  4. Encourages turn-taking and social connection: AAC lets children join conversations even before speech is fluent, giving them more practice in real communication.

AAC is not ‘giving up on speech’. It’s giving a child more ways to succeed while speech continues to develop.

🧩 How to introduce AAC gently and effectively

  1. Start small and meaningful: Begin with a few key messages your child wants to say, not just what adults want to hear. Think ‘I want’, ‘stop’, ‘help’, ‘more’, ‘all done’, ‘no’, ‘again’. These are powerful words for real interaction and autonomy.
  2. Model, model, model: The most important part of AAC success is modelling—using the system yourself as you talk. For example: ‘You want banana 🍌’ and you tap the ‘want’ and ‘banana’ symbols. Children need to see and hear AAC used naturally before they try it themselves.
  3. Use it throughout the day: AAC isn’t a therapy tool to take out once a week. It’s a living part of communication. Model a few words during mealtimes, play, and routines. The more consistently it’s embedded, the more fluent both you and your child will become.
  4. Keep it accessible: If using a device or picture board, make sure it’s always nearby. If it’s in a bag or drawer, it can’t be used in real moments.
  5. Celebrate all communication: If your child points, signs, uses a sound, or taps a symbol, it all counts. Respond warmly and naturally to reinforce communication in any form.

🧠 What parents often worry about

  • ‘Won’t AAC stop them from talking?’: No. Research shows AAC use either has no negative effect on speech or leads to increased spoken output (Smith et al., 2024). When children feel understood, their motivation to communicate grows.
  • ‘What if I model it wrong?’: There’s no perfect way to start. Your effort and consistency matter far more than accuracy.
  • ‘Will they get ‘stuck’ using pictures?’:  Some children do continue using AAC long-term; others move naturally toward more spoken language. The goal is always functional communication, not replacing one form with another.

🪞 Bringing AAC into daily life

Here are a few simple, parent-friendly ideas:

  • Create visual spaces: Post symbols or core words on the fridge, mirror, or play area.
  • Narrate routines: Use AAC during toothbrushing, dressing, or mealtimes; consistent contexts build understanding.
  • Pair speech and touch: Always say the word aloud when you point to or tap a symbol.
  • Involve siblings and friends: Model how they can respond to AAC too. ‘Oh, you said go! Let’s go fast!’
  • Use shared books and songs: Pause and model key words in stories or songs.

🌱 The takeaway

AAC doesn’t mean giving up on speech; it means opening more doors to communication. When words don’t come easily, AAC gives children a way to connect, share, and be heard.

It helps parents move from guessing to understanding, and gives children the power to express themselves on their own terms.

If you’re unsure where to start, reach out to a speech and language therapist experienced in AAC. Together, you can find a system that fits your child’s strengths, build confidence in modelling, and help every word (spoken or tapped) feel like a step forward.

And download and print my one page summary.

Because when communication is possible, everything else begins to grow.

Sonja McGeachie

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

📚 Reference

Smith, K., et al. (2024). The Effect of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions and Aided AAC on the Language Development of Children on the Autism Spectrum with Minimal Speech: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55, 3078–3099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06382-7

Health Professions Council registered
Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
Member of ASLTIP

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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    The results are clear to see over time: our children on the spectrum learn to imitate actions, with objects and gestures, then sounds and words. Alongside this increased imitation skill the child can then develop more joint attention and engagement.

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    Principle 2. DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE

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    Principle 4: Blocked vs Random

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    Blocked Practice is where we practise one target word for say five minutes then we move to another target word for the next five minutes and then we revert back to the first target word again and so on, so blocks of practice.

    Random Practice means we practise several target words at the same time.

    How do I decide on what to use?

    Good question!

    I always opt for distributed practice (weekly for up to 45 minutes).

    Within that, I tend to find it most successful to start out with constant practice when a child is finding a certain sound sequence really hard and we need to just ‘nail it’. Bearing in mind I only pick sounds that my student can actually make in isolation, so we are not working on articulation! (where we focus on trying to elicit single sounds correctly – or even at all sometimes) Here in CAS work, we are working with sounds the student can make but is having trouble to add together, into a sequence that is needed to make a word sound right.

    As soon as I feel we have some traction I will go to variable practice, i.e. I pick words that are either funny or interesting for the child and it can be a slightly larger number.

    I tend to use blocked practice in the beginning or when working on vowels. That’s because it is more important we get our vowels right. They carry a word and are very important for overall speech intelligibility. Once we are on a roll, I tend to go more for random practice.

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    1. Distributed (1 x week for 45 minutes)
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    3. Blocked – we did this: several repetitions of each word and after the sixth we moved to another sound, and then later we came back to this.

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