Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Advanced Language Development in Special Education

Abstract

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) has increasingly been recognised as a means of supporting communication and participation among students with special educational needs. While earlier applications of AAC focused primarily on basic communicative functions, recent research has highlighted its potential to support advanced language skills such as narrative development, literacy engagement, and pragmatic social communication. This article presents a narrative review of recent literature examining the use of AAC for advanced language development within school based special education contexts. Relevant studies published between 2020 and 2025 were identified through major academic databases and analysed thematically. The review highlights emerging AAC supported approaches, including story grammar based narrative activities, shared book reading, and dialogic interaction, which enable extended discourse and meaningful classroom participation. At the same time, persistent challenges remain, particularly in relation to teacher training, cross disciplinary collaboration, contextual applicability, and limited empirical evidence from Malaysia. Overall, the findings underscore the need to reconceptualise AAC beyond basic communication support and to prioritise classroom based, interaction driven approaches that align with local educational realities. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed to support more effective and contextually relevant AAC implementation in special education.