Unaided AAC

There are a number of forms of AAC that do not use equipment. These are known as unaided AAC and include those listed below:

Facial expression/body language refers to the expressions, movements, and poses that a person uses to express a message.  This may include frowning, smiling and simple actions.

Gesture can include fine and gross body movements.  Some examples of gestures are waving, shaking hands, pointing and giving the thumbs up. Depending on the situation that the gesture is used in, it may be interpreted differently. For example, waving may be interpreted to mean ‘hi’ or ‘bye’ or may be used to gain someone’s attention. 

Mime involves acting out a message using gestures and bodily movements only.

Key Word Sign is a more formal means of unaided communication. Speech is used with signing but manual signs and gestures are used with the key words in the sentence.

The use of natural gesture is important to enhance and add visual meaning to what is said. Key Word Sign can be used expressively or to help somebody to understand what is said to them. In Australia, Key Word Sign borrows from Auslan sign language.

Signed English is a type of sign language that has been used in Australia in the past.  Signed English uses the same grammar as spoken English by translating each spoken word into a manual sign. 

Finger spelling is an important part of the Auslan sign language.  Each letter of the alphabet has a unique hand shape. The individual letter signs can be put together to spell words and sentences.

Auslan is the language of the Australian Deaf community.  It has been simplified for use by people who have complex communication needs and their communication partners.  Like other sign languages, Auslan has a word order that is quite different to spoken English. Auslan Signbank.