Terms
- Access method
- How a person selects or creates a message. Examples include direct touch, pointing, a switch, eye tracking, a mouse, a keyboard, gesture, or partner-assisted scanning. The useful method depends on the person, task, position, environment, and fatigue.
- Aphasia
- An acquired language disorder caused by brain injury. It may affect understanding, speaking, reading, writing, or combinations of these. Aphasia does not by itself establish a cognitive impairment.
- Apraxia of speech
- A motor speech disorder in which the brain has difficulty planning or programming the movements needed for speech. It is distinct from muscle weakness and may occur with aphasia or dysarthria.
- Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
- Ways to supplement speech or communicate instead of speech. AAC can include gesture, signing, writing, pictures, letter boards, communication books, and speech-generating systems.
- Cognitive-communication
- Communication activities affected by cognitive processes such as attention, memory, organization, problem-solving, or executive function. The functional effect varies by task and setting.
- Communication partner
- Anyone interacting with the person. Partners can reduce barriers by allowing time, confirming meaning, offering accessible choices, and learning how the person signals yes, no, uncertainty, correction, or refusal.
- Dysarthria
- A motor speech disorder caused by changes in the strength, speed, range, steadiness, tone, or coordination of speech movements. Language may be unaffected, though other communication conditions can occur at the same time.
- Dysphagia
- Difficulty swallowing. It can affect saliva, food, liquids, or medicines and may involve safety, efficiency, nutrition, hydration, comfort, and participation. New breathing difficulty or inability to manage secretions needs urgent medical attention.
- Feature matching
- A collaborative AAC process that connects a person’s communication goals and contexts with system features. It considers language, literacy, sensory and motor access, positioning, environments, partners, portability, reliability, and support.
- High-tech and low-tech AAC
- High-tech AAC uses electronic equipment; low-tech AAC does not require electronics. These labels describe tools, not a hierarchy. Many people use both and keep a low-tech backup.
- Language
- A shared system for understanding and expressing meaning through spoken, signed, written, tactile, pictorial, or other symbols. Language and speech are related but not the same.
- Multimodal communication
- Using more than one way to communicate, such as speech, facial expression, body movement, gesture, sign, writing, pictures, or a speech-generating system. The most effective mode may change by message, setting, or day.
- Participation
- Involvement in a life situation. Communication support should be judged partly by whether it helps the person take part in the relationships, choices, education, work, health care, and community activities that matter to them.
- Speech-generating device or system
- An electronic AAC tool that produces spoken output. It may be a dedicated device or software on general-purpose hardware. Voice output is one feature; vocabulary, access, durability, portability, and support also matter.
- Supported decision-making
- Help that enables a person to understand, consider, communicate, and act on their own choices, rather than substituting another person's decision when the person can decide with support. Communication difficulty must not be treated automatically as absence of preference or decision-making ability. See ACL: Supported Decision Making Program.
- Symbol
- Something used to represent meaning, such as an object, gesture, photograph, drawing, printed word, or letter. Symbol type and presentation should be tested with the person rather than assigned from diagnosis alone.
Limits of this glossary
These definitions explain how terms are used on this site. They are not diagnostic criteria, billing definitions, or substitutes for discipline-specific assessment. A condition name belongs in its condition guide, where evidence and variability can be addressed without duplicating a second clinical summary here.
Sources and further reading
- ASHA Practice Portal: Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- ASHA Practice Portal: Aphasia
- ASHA Practice Portal: Acquired Apraxia of Speech
- ASHA Practice Portal: Dysarthria in Adults
- ASHA Practice Portal: Adult Dysphagia
- WHO: International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
- U.S. Administration for Community Living: Supported Decision Making Program
Sources accessed 21 July 2026.