SMART augmentative and alternative communication IEP goal templates, symbol-level baselines, and progress-monitoring cadence for school-based SLPs.
Augmentative and alternative communication goals serve students who cannot rely on speech as their primary means of communication — students using dedicated speech-generating devices, iPad-based apps like LAMP or TouchChat, picture exchange communication, sign language, or any combination of those modalities. The goal area sits at the intersection of assistive technology, expressive language, and pragmatics, and the goals must be written in a way that respects multimodality — a student may communicate one thought with a sign, the next with a device symbol, and the next with vocal approximation. IDEA and the 2004 reauthorisation explicitly include AAC as a related service and an assistive technology consideration, and every IEP must address whether the student needs AAC whether or not a diagnosis of speech impairment applies. Goals in this area are almost always written at the symbol or core-word level rather than at the standard morpheme or MLU level.
Every IEP goal on this page is written in the SMART format required by IDEA 34 CFR §300.320(a)(2) — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. Clinicians must adapt templates to the individual student's baseline, classroom context, and state-level IDEA implementation regulations before dropping them into an IEP.
Every defensible aac IEP goal starts with a documented baseline. Follow this protocol before you open the goal generator.
Language sample analysis for AAC users is a specialised subfield — the sampling protocol has to account for the slower rate of AAC production, the multimodal nature of the utterance, and the scaffolding the communication partner provides. The Communication Matrix and the Dynamic AAC Goals Grid (DAGG) are the most widely used sampling frameworks, but a clinician can also transcribe an AAC sample into SALT or a similar convention with an AAC augmentation. The primary metric is the number of different core words produced in a 15-minute sample, not MLU. ConductSpeech does not currently process AAC samples directly, but the transcription approach is the same as for spoken samples — hand-transcribe the symbols with timestamps and compute NDW on core vocabulary. Pair the sample with a DAGG administration for a complete baseline.
“The number of core words an AAC user produces in 15 minutes is the single most informative baseline on the IEP. It goes up when the environment changes, the partner trains up, or the device layout improves — and it stays flat when none of those things happen.”
Five ready-to-paste templates. Replace the bracketed placeholders with the student's name, the annual review date, and your target number from the baseline protocol above.
“By {annual review date}, during a 15-minute preferred activity, {Student} will independently activate at least {target count} different core words on the AAC system across two consecutive samples as measured by SLP tally.”
“By {annual review date}, during a 15-minute preferred activity, {Student} will produce at least 5 two-symbol combinations per sample (e.g., "want + juice") across two consecutive samples as measured by SLP tally.”
“By {annual review date}, given access to the AAC system and a preferred activity, {Student} will independently request the item or activity in 8 of 10 opportunities (80%) across three consecutive probe sessions as measured by SLP observation.”
“By {annual review date}, when asked a yes/no or multiple-choice question by a familiar partner, {Student} will respond using the AAC system in 8 of 10 trials (80%) across three consecutive probe sessions as measured by SLP observation.”
“By {annual review date}, when entering a classroom or encountering a familiar adult, {Student} will initiate a greeting using the AAC system in 4 of 5 opportunities (80%) across three consecutive probe sessions as measured by SLP observation.”
Get the full analysis
Upload the session audio and ConductSpeech transcribes it, computes the baseline metrics, and writes a draft present levels statement you can drop next to the aac IEP goal. Built for school-based SLPs on 50-student caseloads.
Free interactive IEP (Individualised Education Programme) goal generator for school-based speech-language pathologists, special-education teachers, and IEP teams. Pick the goal area (one of the eight ASHA School-Based Service Delivery areas: articulation, expressive language, receptive language, fluency, voice, pragmatics / social communication, AAC, literacy), pick the target skill from the curated bank of 30+ starter skills, enter the baseline percent and the target percent, set the consecutive-sessions mastery criterion and the annual-review deadline, and the tool drafts a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) IEP goal sentence ready to paste into the IEP. Includes a SMART self-check rubric, a customisable condition clause, a copy-to-clipboard button, and suggested baseline / target ranges that match published school-age SLP intervention practice. Mobile-friendly, client-side, no sign-up.
Open toolFree printable and fillable language sample analysis worksheet for speech-language pathologists. Five columns (utterance #, transcription, morpheme count, grammatical Y/N, notes), configurable row count up to 100 utterances, browser print produces a clean PDF, and an inline running summary tracks total utterances, total morphemes, and rolling MLU as you fill it in.
Open toolFree interactive caseload workload calculator for school-based speech-language pathologists implementing the ASHA Workload Approach (ASHA 2002 Workload Analysis Technical Report; ASHA 2024 School-Based Service Delivery Practice Portal). Enter the number of students on your caseload by service intensity tier (consult, mild 30-60 min/week, moderate 60-90, severe 90-150, profound 120-240), plus annual counts of initial, triennial, and dismissal evaluations, IEP / IFSP / 504 meetings, parent conferences, and weekly travel, supervision, and professional-development minutes, and the calculator returns the total weekly workload in hours, a breakdown across seven ASHA workload categories (direct service, indirect documentation, evaluations, meetings, travel, supervision, PD), and a capacity flag (under, ok, at-capacity, over) against the 37.5-hour FTE baseline. Built for school SLPs, special-education coordinators, district SLP leads, CF-SLPs, and state school SLP association advocacy. Mobile-friendly, client-side, no sign-up.
Open toolFree interactive speech-language milestones checker for children from birth to 72 months (6 years). Enter the child's age in months and tick the receptive (understanding) and expressive (use) communication milestones they have met. The tool classifies the current age band as on track, monitor, or refer for evaluation against the ASHA communication milestones (2024), the CDC "Learn the Signs. Act Early." revised milestones (Zubler et al. 2022 Pediatrics), the Bright Futures 4th ed. well-child developmental surveillance schedule, and the Ages & Stages Questionnaires 3rd ed. Built for paediatricians, early interventionists, school-based SLPs, developmental paediatricians, Head Start teachers, and parents. Mobile-friendly, client-side, no sign-up.
Open toolSMART expressive language IEP goal templates, LSA-informed baselines, and progress-monitoring cadence for school-based SLPs targeting morphosyntax and sentence production.
ASHA · Receptive languageSMART receptive language IEP goal templates, baseline measurement using comprehension probes, and progress-monitoring cadence for school-based SLPs.
ASHA · Pragmatics / socialSMART pragmatics and social communication IEP goal templates, observation-based baselines, and progress-monitoring cadence for school-based SLPs.
