AAC and Rett Syndome

Those of you who may not yet know of Carole Zangari's AMAZING blog, PrAACtical AAC, you are in for a fantastic treat. For any parent or teacher supporting a non-verbal child, Carole's blog is such a wealth of information!!! She has so much information there, it will take months for you to go through all of it.

Today, PrAACtical AAC is featuring an excellent guest post by Dr. Theresa Bartalotta. In this post, Dr. Bartalotta gives a concise, helpful overview of Rett syndrome and ways to support communication in children and adults with the disorder.

I appreciate how Dr. Bartalotta addresses the challenges our kids with Rett face as they relate to communication:

• physical limitations
• response time
• non-standard communications that can become highly meaningful

She also talks about particular AAC interventions that can be useful, including techniques, partner training, and low- and high-tech solutions that have been shown to be successful with some kids with Rett syndrome.

Those of you who know me well know that I take exception to the description of the Rett syndrome that assumes "most individuals are severely cognitively challenged" because we simply don't possess the tools to measure that. If you can't prove it, you can't presume it, right? Better to give the benefit of the doubt and provide rich opportunities, letting kids bloom to the greatest of their potential. That's my soapbox and I'm not stepping off, sorry.

For an introductory article on AAC and Rett syndrome, Dr. Bartalotta covers a lot of ground! If your child has Rett syndrome, it's worth passing on to your child's speech therapist.

Then, once you do that, go back and browse the PrAACtical AAC site. You'll be glad you did! Seriously, go check it out!