How to Set Up an AAC App for Your Nonverbal Child (Step-by-Step)
You don't need an AAC background to set this up. You don't need to wait for an SLP appointment. This guide will take you from zero to a working, personalised AAC board — on any device — in about 10 minutes.
Have your phone or tablet charged and ready. If you want to personalise the boards (recommended), you'll need a few photos of your child's common requests — foods, people, activities. You can take these during setup, but it's faster if you already have some in your camera roll.
Step 1: Download and Explore the Default Boards
Download the free AAC app for iOS and Android from your app store. When you open it for the first time, you'll see a set of default boards ready to use immediately. No setup required.
Spend five minutes here before doing anything else. Tap through the boards with your child — don't put pressure on them to use it, just explore it together. Notice what they respond to. This tells you a lot about where to focus your personalisation.
Step 2: Identify Your Child's Core 10
Before creating any custom boards, ask yourself: what does my child most want to communicate right now? For most young children, this list spans five categories:
Also add core requests: more, stop, help, go, no. Write down your top 10 — these become your first custom board.
Step 3: Take the Photos
Open your camera and photograph each item on your list. Real photos — your child's actual cup, their actual favourite toy, the actual faces of the people they know. A slightly blurry phone photo of a real biscuit is more meaningful to a child than a polished illustration of a generic snack.
For photos of people, use a clear close-up of their face with a neutral expression against a simple background. Busy backgrounds are harder to recognise at a glance when a child is trying to communicate quickly.
Step 4: Build Your First Custom Board
In CommBoards, create a new board and give it a name. Add each item from your Core 10 by tapping the "+" button, selecting your photo, and recording yourself saying the word. Use your normal voice at a normal pace — not slowly, not dramatically. The goal is for the voice to sound like communication, not like a lesson.
Arrange the most important items in the top-left positions — this is typically where eyes go first, especially for children who scan from left to right.
Step 5: Introduce It Without Pressure
Put the device where your child can reach it. Don't instruct them to use it. Don't create a "session." Just have it available.
For the first few days, your job is to model. When you want a drink, pick up the device and tap "water." When you're helping with something, tap "help." When you're happy, tap "happy." Do this naturally, as part of normal conversation. Not as a demonstration — as actual communication.
Step 6: Iterate Weekly
After a week or two, notice which buttons your child taps most. Which ones do they ignore? AAC vocabularies are not fixed — the best ones evolve with the child.
Review this week's use
Which symbols were tapped? Which were ignored entirely?
Add 2–3 new symbols
Based on what you've noticed your child wanting but not being able to request.
Remove unused symbols
Anything that hasn't been tapped in two weeks can be archived — not deleted, just moved out of the main view.
What If It Doesn't Click Immediately?
It usually doesn't — and that's completely normal. Most families need 4–6 weeks of consistent, low-pressure exposure before they see regular spontaneous use. Ten minutes of natural daily modeling is more valuable than an hour-long "AAC session" once a week.
For more on modeling strategies, see Modeling Without the Burnout. For SLP-specific guidance and IEP goal support, visit our SLP Portal.
Back Up Your Boards
Once you've built boards your child uses, protect them. CommBoards supports iCloud backup and restore on paid plans. Enable this — losing a carefully built board set is devastating and completely avoidable.
Starting AAC is one of the most meaningful things a parent can do for a nonverbal child. The research is clear: early, consistent AAC use improves communication outcomes. Whatever device you own, whatever budget you have — starting now matters more than starting perfectly.
Ready to get started?
CommBoards works on iOS and Android. Free to download — up and running in under 10 minutes.
Download CommBoards →About the Makers: CommBoards is built by a husband-and-wife team combining Senior UX Design and Software Engineering to create more accessible pathways for non-verbal children.