There is no minimum age. If your child is old enough to point at a snack, they are old enough for AAC — research has successfully introduced picture-based communication from 12–18 months. The outdated advice to "wait and see if speech comes" has been contradicted by decades of studies: AAC does not delay speech, and waiting costs the child years of frustration.
Language grows through use. Every month a child can't express "more", "hurt", "hug", or "no" is a month of missed conversational turns — and of behaviors that were really communication attempts. Children who get AAC early consistently show better language outcomes, and many speak more after starting AAC, not less. See the research on AAC and speech.
Tala's default boards are ready in 90 seconds, free to start, and speak natural whole phrases in 29 languages — a gentle, zero-risk way to begin modeling today.
No. Typically developing children point and gesture before 12 months — AAC simply gives a child with speech delays an equivalent tool. Studies have introduced AAC successfully from 12–18 months.
No. Teenagers and adults who never had reliable communication make meaningful gains when given AAC. The best time was early; the second-best time is now.
An SLP’s guidance is valuable, but you don’t need permission to model picture-based communication at home. Free-to-start apps make trying AAC a zero-risk experiment while you wait for an evaluation.