Relevant for children and adults at all stages of communication development, this work should be useful for speech therapists, educators, and rehabilitation professionals who work with Augmentative and Alternative Communication users. It presents research and theory and guides readers through four skill areas important to the development of communicative competence. The skill areas consist of linguistic competence, operational competence, social competence, and strategic competence. Linguistic competence teaches about issues such as the impact of AAC on an individual's natural speech production, the development and use of picture-based communication systems, and the relationship between spoken language and the "language" of AAC systems. Operational competence considers issues related to technical operation of AAC systems, and social competence explores factors such as the effect of developmental disabilities on social communication. Strategic competence examines operational, linguistic, and social constraints faced by AAC users.