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  • Feb 5, 2026

Literacy for All: AAC in K-12 Classrooms

    Of all the academic skills we teach, literacy is the one that unlocks the rest. If a child can read, then they can learn about anything else they want. 

    If they can write, then they can process and express their thoughts in an entirely new way. 

    Much as I love and embrace STEM, history, art, technical/vocational education, you name it… If I had to pick just one place to start, it would be with literacy. 

    Lately, there’s been much more attention to the ways that we teach kids how to read. Science-based approaches are finally gaining some traction, for general and special educators alike. There’s no other way to say how I feel about this except: YAAAAAAAY!!!!!! 

    When school boards and administrators look for curriculum for K-12 special education classrooms, here’s what I would like them to know:

    • Science says everyone can learn to read. Yes, EVERYONE!

    • Literacy is a language-based skill, so that means we need a language-based curriculum (not a behavior-based curriculum). 

    • Science also says different learners need different strategies. But there’s really just two types: emergent strategies, and conventional strategies. 

    • For emergent learners (that’s our AAC users, and our kids with extensive support needs), it is EXTRA important that they have access to ALL 6 of the science-backed emergent literacy strategies, not just one or two of them.

      • Note: You can learn about those 6 strategies in the resources linked below.

    • Please don’t be fooled by curricula that claim to incorporate AAC just because they accompany their text with icons… this is at best ineffective and at worst actually harmful to children's progress with literacy.

    As an AAC Specialist, I spent years trying to help teachers adapt literacy curricula in ways that would work for my students. They said they were meant for the full spectrum of special education classrooms, but I found they relied on conventional literacy strategies, rather than emergent literacy strategies. It was a ton of effort to adapt it, and differentiate it, and teach teachers how to do this too. 

    Then one day, I stopped to ask myself: what if something better exists?

    What if there’s a curriculum out there which actually incorporates all of the core principles of the science of literacy, and universal design for learning, and AAC users, without making me and my team do this much work? 

    It turns out, there is. 

    What we would do at “LUVUSD” –

    In my dream school district (which I nicknamed “LUVUSD” a while back) teachers would NOT have to adapt the curriculum to work for their AAC users. 

    Instead, the curriculum would come out of the box already designed with all learners (including AAC users!) in mind.

    It would use the principles of universal design for learning, plus evidence-based practice for emergent readers and communicators.

    It would naturally encourage teachers and paraprofessionals to use AAC all day long, and it would have SLP collaboration with teachers built right in.

    It would cover every subject area, using a language and literacy lens. 

    Doesn’t this sound like utopia to you?

    Yeah, me too. And guess what?

    The curriculum I’m talking about for school age kids - the only one I know of that does all this - is called Readtopia.

    It’s made by the Building Wings Company in consultation with Karen Erickson, a researcher and the co-author of the definitive text on literacy for emergent communicators, Comprehensive Literacy for All. 

    It’s not just a dream - 

    If you have school-age AAC users in your life, you absolutely must see this research study by Dr. Lisa Erwin Davidson, Ph.D CCC-SLP. It was done in a public school, with nothing more than low-tech AAC. It compares one of the most popular curriculums out there (Unique, by N2Y) with Readtopia, and the results are extraordinary and compelling. 

    I feel the need to say the same thing as last month when talking about curricula: I’m not paid by these companies, I just genuinely love what they do!

    If you can’t access Readtopia, I have other resources for you. They are free, but they require more work from educators (e.g. teachers, SLPs, homeschooling parents). I’d so much rather you have access to a paid resource that is well-designed to save you time and energy. But if you’re in a situation with limited resources (as so many of us are), then I encourage you to read on. It may be more work at first, but if you’re here, I bet you’re just the sort of above-and-beyond human who won’t be scared off by that.  

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