If your 5-year-old isn't talking — or isn't talking enough to be understood — an AAC app can give them a working voice this week. Here's what starting looks like at exactly this age.
Five brings school — and with it, new communication partners who don’t know your child’s gestures. AAC at this age is as much about being understood by strangers as by family. It also becomes literacy support: every card pairs symbol, spoken phrase, and written text.
A five-year-old’s system should cover school life: asking for help, saying something hurts, requesting a break, answering "what did you do today?". Coordinate with the IEP/support plan so the device is written in as assistive technology.
The milestone at five is portability of communication: your child successfully telling a teacher — not you — what they need. That first successful exchange with a non-family adult changes how school treats them.
Tala is free to start — 10 ready-made boards with whole-phrase cards, one natural voice per language in 29 languages, offline audio, set up in about 90 seconds. Worried AAC might slow speech down? The research says the opposite. Wondering if 5 is the right age? There is no minimum age for AAC.
Three things: an AAC system the child already uses at home, the same boards available in the classroom (Tala is free for teachers), and AAC written into the IEP or support plan as assistive technology.
Almost always the opposite — five-year-olds treat a talking device as fascinating. A one-minute class explanation ("this is how Alex talks") normally settles it permanently.