Heather Roach, AAC Experience

She told me she didn’t know what dad was doing.

Using partner assisted scanning, she communicated “do… I don’t know” and I knew exactly what she meant because I watched her eyes. She was looking toward where dad had just walked inside.

That’s what a communication partner does.

We hold the context. We fill in the meaning. We make the message whole. Without a present, attuned partner, that moment disappears. With one? It becomes a real conversation.

So I answered her: “Your dad went to get more to eat.”

Message sent. Message understood. Message answered. That’s connection. And notice how easy it is to add to lists in real time. Chinese food went straight on the list as we talked. Her language growing in the moment she used it.

March 2024