Free AAC devices.

Funded by the Department of Rehabilitation’s Voice Options Program through a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission.

A young boy wearing a blue long sleeve shirt touches a tablet.

Communication is a basic human right.

But for individuals with difficulty speaking verbally, communication can be challenging and frustrating. Lack of access to communication can lead to withdrawal, loss of confidence, and behavior difficulties, such as tantrums and meltdowns. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices allow individuals with difficulty communicating verbally to communicate through pictures and text-to-voice technology.

Traditionally, AAC devices are expensive and difficult to access. North Star has partnered with the California Department of Rehabilitation to provide free AAC devices to Californians with speech-language impairments.

A young boy touches an iPad while sitting at a counter.

Who can use an AAC device?

  • Individuals who are nonspeaking or minimally-verbal due to autism, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), stroke, seizure, cerebral palsy, or other conditions

  • Speaking individuals who go through nonspeaking periods, such as autistic individuals or those with selective mutism

  • Individuals who speak but are very difficult to understand, such as those with severe speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), cerebral palsy, cleft palate, or other conditions

Learn more about AAC here.

How to get your free AAC device through Voice Options

  1. Email us! One of our speech-language therapists will be in touch to schedule a free AAC consultation and demonstration to determine that the Voice Options program is a good fit, to learn about the AAC device options, and to set up a short-term loan to decide which AAC application is right for you or your child. There are 6 applications to choose from: LAMP Words for Life, TouchChat with WordPower, TD Snap, Proloquo4Text, Proloquo2Go, Predictable, or Go Talk Now.

  2. Borrow an AAC device (an iPad with various AAC speech generating applications) for up to 2 weeks to decide if it’s a good fit.

  3. Exchange the borrowed AAC device for a device of your own with your preferred AAC speech generating application.

  4. By participating in the Voice Options program, you will receive three one-hour appointments with a North Star speech-language pathologist (including the initial demonstration) to train you in how to program and use the AAC device.

About AAC from the California Department of Rehabilitation Voice Options Program

Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) logo

Free AAC devices to Californians are funded by the Department of Rehabilitation’s Voice Options program through a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission. To learn more, visit the Voice Options website.