Most children begin putting words together around their second birthday. Children develop speech, however, at different rates. Communication development involving listening, speaking, gesturing, reading, and writing continues throughout life and requires access to all aspects of the child's world. Assistive technology is an option to help young children communicate. Help for children who are at risk for difficulty in developing, sending, and receiving early communication signals and for their caregivers is available through the use of assistive technology.
Assistive technology includes a wide range of low and high technology options.
One example of a low or no technology option to facilitate communication is keeping an accurate log of an infant's cues and their meanings to be shared by all caregivers. Using a little more technology, the harder to recognize and read signals may be seen by videotaping babies interacting with their caregivers. The caregivers can look at the videotapes together and with professionals who work with infants and toddlers. As a team they can decide what the baby's behaviors mean and how to respond to these early signals. Other examples of assistive technology useful to aid communication development include adapting crib mobiles so they may be controlled by a switch placed in an infant's bootie.