Functional Communication Goals for Young Adult AAC Users with Autism

Functional Communication Goals for Young Adult AAC Users with Autism

Functional Communication Goals for Young Adult AAC Users with Autism

For young adults with autism who use AAC, communication goals often stop reflecting real life. Too many goals focus on isolated skills or early developmental milestones, while overlooking what actually matters for independence, self-advocacy, and participation in adult environments.

Functional communication goals should help AAC users navigate school, work, community, and daily living routines—not just perform well on isolated tasks. This is especially important for teens and young adults with autism who may appear “stuck” despite years of services.

This post explains what functional communication goals are, why AAC users with autism need a different approach, and how to create goals that lead to meaningful, measurable progress.

What Are Functional Communication Goals?

Functional communication goals focus on real-world use of language, not just test performance or abstract language concepts.

For AAC users with autism, functional goals address questions such as:

  • Can the learner communicate needs, preferences, and boundaries?

  • Can they interact with familiar and unfamiliar communication partners?

  • Can they use communication to solve problems, advocate for themselves, and participate in daily routines?

Effective functional goals are:

  • Observable

  • Measurable

  • Context-based

  • Directly tied to daily activities

They go beyond simple requesting and include social communication, autonomy, safety, digital communication, and AAC system use.

Why Traditional Goals Often Miss the Mark for AAC Users with Autism

Many AAC users with autism—especially those with complex communication needs—are evaluated using tools that were not designed with them in mind. As a result, communication goals may be:

  • Overly broad (e.g., “improve expressive language”)

  • Vague or difficult to measure

  • Based on developmental norms that do not account for AAC access

  • Disconnected from real-life communication demands

Standardized scores often fail to capture:

  • the level of support a learner requires

  • whether skills are used independently or generalized

  • the impact of AAC system design and access

  • meaningful progress over time

This can lead to goals being repeated year after year without clear evidence of growth.

What Makes Functional AAC Goals Different?

Functional AAC goals are built around how communication actually occurs in daily life.

They consider:

  • Level of prompting or partner support

  • Types of communication partners (peers, staff, unfamiliar adults)

  • Settings such as school, community, and vocational environments

  • Purpose of communication (requesting, refusing, commenting, repairing breakdowns)

Rather than asking whether a learner “has” a skill, functional AAC goals focus on:

What level of this skill the learner currently demonstrates—and what the next instructional step should be.

Examples of Functional Communication Goals for Young Adults with Autism

Common functional AAC goal areas for teens and young adults with autism include:

Receptive Communication

  • Following functional directions during daily routines

  • Identifying safety signs in community environments

  • Understanding descriptors related to time, location, and quantity

Expressive Communication

  • Requesting assistance, breaks, or preferred items

  • Describing actions or events using AAC

  • Responding to yes/no and wh-questions during meaningful activities

Social and Pragmatic Communication

  • Responding to greetings and questions

  • Participating in short conversational exchanges

  • Repairing communication breakdowns

Self-Advocacy and Autonomy

  • Expressing preferences, refusals, and boundaries

  • Communicating discomfort or safety concerns

  • Making independent choices

Operational and AAC System Skills

  • Navigating between pages on a multi-functional AAC system

  • Using core vocabulary flexibly across contexts

  • Adjusting access methods or volume as needed

Each goal should be individualized, but always functional, observable, and measurable.

The Challenge: Identifying Meaningful Next Steps

One of the most common challenges teams face is determining:

  • how to document progress accurately

  • how to measure growth when independence is emerging

  • what the next instructional target should be

Many assessments identify strengths and needs but do not clearly translate results into actionable goals. For AAC users with autism, this often results in stalled progress—not because learning has stopped, but because growth is not being captured effectively.

Functional AAC assessment should:

  • break skills into small, teachable components

  • measure partial progress and emerging independence

  • reflect real-world communication demands

  • connect directly to goal development

A Functional Approach to AAC Goal Development

The Functional AAC Skills Assessment (FASA) was designed specifically for teens and young adults with autism and complex communication needs.

Instead of relying on vague scores or broad labels, the FASA:

  • evaluates 200 functional AAC skills

  • organizes each skill across an eight-level hierarchy

  • measures progress based on level of support or number of targets

  • includes a goal template for every assessed skill

This structure allows educators and clinicians to move directly from assessment results to instructional planning, ensuring that every learner demonstrates meaningful growth over time.

👉 Learn more about the Functional AAC Skills Assessment (FASA) here.

Final Thoughts

Functional communication goals for AAC users with autism should reflect real communication in real environments, especially during the transition to adulthood.

When goals are:

  • clearly defined

  • grounded in daily routines

  • aligned with AAC access and support needs

  • focused on observable growth

young adults with autism are better supported in developing communication skills that truly impact their quality of life.

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