We’re very happy to share the news that our colleagues May Ebbage-Taylor, Senior AAC Consultant and Katy Leckenby, Partnerships and Consultancy Manager, have officially become authors with their new book, AAC and Aided Language In The Classroom!

We spent time speaking with May who shared some insights into what motivated them to write about their experience as well as give us a some ideas of what readers can expect.

As previous class teachers working with learners with Speech, Language and Communication Needs, we have experienced first hand the minimal support offered to teachers, particularly when first working with learners who use AAC. During our teacher training we did not, like many others nationally, receive training on how to best support these learners. We also experienced the difficulties in gaining consistent Speech and Language Therapy support, offering specific support for these learners. We found we spent our time researching AAC outside of the school day, and gaining guidance from relevant suppliers of AAC devices to upskill ourselves.

Due to our experiences, we wrote this book for teachers. The aim of the book is to build practitioners’ confidence and enable educators to provide a universal level of support for learners with Speech, Language and Communication Needs. It is written in an accessible style, offering guidance and support to help you to overcome barriers and successfully implement AAC.

We focused on the English education system, making links to relevant documentation from the Department for Education.

Some of the key topics address in the book include:

• Providing a range of useful tools and resources to implement Aided Language/AAC
• Addressing myths and misconceptions, with discussion points to encourage the reader to reflect on their own practice.
• Sharing the current evidence base around successful support strategies.
• Easy to implement, practical strategies that can be adopted in any classroom to have maximum impact and enhance learners’ communication skills.
• A wealth of relatable, real-life examples and case studies included throughout, to bring theory to life and help you deliver effective classroom practice and support your learners with SLCN.
• A clear outline of the variety of different assistive technologies available for facilitating communication.

This book is relevant for school leaders, SENCOs, teachers, and learning support assistants, as well as speech and language therapists supporting educators with the implementation of Aided Language/ AAC.

Available from all good book sellers or directly from Routledge here: https://www.routledge.com/AAC-and-Aided-Language-in-the-Classroom-Breaking-Down-Barriers-for-Learners-with-Speech-Language-and-Communication-Needs/Leckenby-Ebbage-Taylor/p/book/9781032531960