Communication for individuals with specific needs refers to the adaptation and provision of information and communication resources to meet the individual needs of people with different abilities or disabilities. 

This type of communication seeks to ensure that all individuals have access to information, regardless of their physical, sensory, cognitive or linguistic limitations.

There are various ways of adapting communication to meet specific needs:

Communication for people with visual impairments: use of Braille, audiobooks, assistive technologies such as screen readers and audio description in films and videos.

Communication for people with hearing impairments: use of sign language, subtitles in videos, sign language interpreters, as well as visual alert systems for alarm sounds.

Communication for people with motor disabilities or writing difficulties: use of voice recognition technologies, adapted keyboards, alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) software, among others.

Communication for people with cognitive difficulties: use of simple, clear language, visual aids such as pictograms or symbols, and adaptations to facilitate understanding.

Information in different languages and cultural adaptations to cater for different linguistic and cultural communities. Promoting communication in individuals with specific needs requires attention to human diversity and the implementation of strategies that can overcome communication barriers, guaranteeing equal access to information and full participation in society for all.

Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) is a system that promotes cognitive aspects, facilitating interaction by offering tools so that individuals without the ability to speak can communicate autonomously, allowing for greater social integration through their perceptions, regardless of their limitations. As a permanent alternative to oral language, Alternative Communication is recommended for people with mild or moderate cognitive disorders, associated with severe motor difficulties and with a diagnosis considered irreversible.

Accessible communication is defined as the process of making information and communication understandable and usable by everyone, regardless of their abilities, disabilities or individual characteristics. It is based on the principle of inclusion, recognising that the diversity of human abilities requires the adaptation and creation of content that meets the needs of a wide range of users.

All people, including those with disabilities and intellectual/cognitive impairments, have the right to receive quality information. Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that these people have the right to receive accessible information. 

Guidelines for good practice in writing and formatting documents in an accessible format:

• Reduce the use of jargon and acronyms (acronyms and technical terms);
• Use accessible language;
• Sentences should preferably have short paragraphs;
• Highlight headings and lists with bullets;
• Uneven right margin of text, not justified;
• Use adequate spacing, avoid long, run-on text;
• Use visual aids to explain and support the main messages (pictograms);
• Restrict specific content to the most important information;
• Text that is easy to read for everyone. Writing in plain or easy language makes information more accessible to everyone.

Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) provides new forms of communication for non-speaking individuals, such as those on the autism spectrum. Children or adults on the autism spectrum need an alternative or complementary mode of non-oral communication to speech. Difficulty communicating can have negative consequences, as communication is fundamental to social interaction, as it is through communication that we realise what we think and feel. 

Alternative communication is any form of communication other than speech that is used by an individual in face-to-face communication contexts, i.e. any type of communication that replaces, extends or supplements speech. The same authors point out that augmentative communication means complementary communication or support. The word ‘augmentative’ emphasises the fact that the teaching of alternative forms of communication has a dual objective: to promote and support speech and to guarantee an alternative form of communication if the person does not learn to speak. We can therefore say that an alternative and augmentative communication system is an integrated set of techniques, aids, strategies and skills that a person with communication restrictions uses to communicate.

An AAC system should be provided as early as possible, given the role that language plays in cognitive and emotional development and as a regulator of behaviour, as well as a fundamental support for social interaction.

There is currently a wide variety of augmentative and alternative communication systems that can be divided into two large groups: 

• unaided systems: these encompass all forms of communication that do not require any kind of instrument or support product and which only involve the use of body parts (head, arms, face, etc.) as a vehicle for transmitting the message (categories: gesture, gesture for non-hearers, manual pedagogical systems, manual alphabet). ) as a vehicle for transmitting the message (categories: gesture in common use, gesture systems for non-listeners, pedagogical manual systems, manual alphabet);
•  aided systems:  the symbols are not produced but selected by the user using a wide variety of devices, i.e. they require some kind of external assistance, instruments or support products so that communication can take place (categories: object communication systems, image communication systems and graphic symbol communication systems).

The population that can benefit from an AAC system can be complex and diverse, so the choice of a communication system must be based on a comprehensive and integrated assessment of the user, determining their possibilities and needs, but also who will be receiving the message and in what contexts the system will be used. This assessment needs to continue throughout the process of implementing and using the system. It is also essential to take into account whether the system has widespread use in the area or country where it will be implemented, as this is a factor that not only facilitates communication between equals, but also allows technicians to continue their work when the user changes context, be it educational, therapeutic or social.

Finally, an essential aspect in the development of a communication system, which is to always bear in mind that the user of a system is, like any human being, constantly changing and evolving, so there should be no hesitation in modifying or even combining AAC systems whenever necessary. There are users, for example, who start out with pictographic systems, but who can later move on to another system and then to a system based on writing or where these can coexist simultaneously. 

Interventions with AAC Systems have improved communication and social skills in children on the autism spectrum. These actions have proved to be essential in intervention programmes with these children in terms of language and socialisation.

The range of existing augmentative or alternative communication systems is very varied and the choice of the system that best suits a particular case, at a particular time, will have to take into account the criteria and selection factors mentioned above.

The PSC system was created by an American speech therapist, Roxana Mayer Johnson, in 1981, with the aim of designing a system to be used by young people who did not have the necessary skills to use other systems. The PSC system is made up of simple, representative or iconic drawings that represent words or concepts that are common in everyday communication. The symbols are drawn with a black line on a white background. Each symbol has the corresponding word above it. The PSC system also includes the alphabet, numbers and colours. Words whose meaning cannot be represented in symbols due to their abstract content are incorporated in written form.

PSC symbols are grouped into six different categories: people (including personal pronouns); verbs; descriptives (adjectives and some adverbs); nouns; miscellaneous (articles, conjunctions, prepositions, colours, time expressions, alphabet, numbers and other abstract words); social expressions (words that facilitate interaction, such as greetings, familiar words, expressions, etc.).

The SPC system is one of the most widely used augmentative systems worldwide due to its simplicity. SPC does not require a very high cognitive level, it can be used in the first communicative steps (as long as the user has minimal communicative intent), it is suitable for all age groups and is easily understood by the interlocutor, as the symbol is associated with the written word.

The new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasingly playing an important role in the development of the future citizen. Every day we are confronted with the use of new technologies and new instruments are constantly appearing that enhance communication, expression and the pedagogical development of schools. These are a precious tool in this education system and, as far as special education is concerned, they will be even more important. With children and young people in special education, ICT can act as a supportive technology, by accompanying or replacing functions that are affected, or it can serve as a pedagogical tool, by enabling complementary and alternative strategies to regular teaching methods. In other words, using a computer and appropriate software, children on the autism spectrum can communicate and learn just like everyone else.

As mentioned above, ‘With Help’ augmentative communication systems involve the use of some kind of symbol support device – Assistive Products – so that the user can transmit messages to their interlocutors using the system’s symbols. Assistive technologies are therefore an integral part of the communication system. The use of technology should therefore be seen as an alternative that provides opportunities for success when the child/young person is unable to obtain quality experiences by natural means.

Generally speaking, ‘communication support products’ are all technologies that facilitate access to the chosen augmentative communication system and must take into account the characteristics of the user. These support products must not only offer the possibility of transmitting the message, but also effectively support the process of interaction/communication with the environment, constituting fundamental support for the teaching/learning process.

CAA, combined with technology, aims to offer methods of extending remaining communication capacities, or replacing them in the case of the absence of any form of perceptible communicative expression.

Bearing in mind that inclusion is a process that takes place throughout an individual’s life, with the aim of improving their quality of life, the use of technology should provide them with improved conditions for participation and involvement, presenting themselves as resources and services aimed at facilitating the development of activities of daily living.