Gesture and Facial Expression are some of the most naturalistic forms of unaided AAC that are available.
Even when vocal communication is difficult, individuals are often able to communicate using other parts of their body.
Facial expressions are excellent resources for individuals to non-verbally communicate their emotions and experience of situations or objects. This is done through larger or smaller movements in the eyebrows, lips, nose and jaw of the individual.
Gesture involves body movements such as:
Pointing (using their hands or arms to point to what they want)
Leading (leading their communication partner to what they are trying to communicate)
Eye movement (using small movements of their eyes to signal to what they want)
Both of these forms of unaided AAC can be effective at communicating feelings, desires, wants and needs but can be easily misinterpreted by communication partners so are relatively ineffective when trying to communicate more complicated phrases and wants.
Vogel, A. P., Spencer, C., Burke, K., Daniella de Bruyn, Gibilisco, P., Blackman, S., Vojtech, J. M., & Kathiresan, T. (2024). Optimizing Communication in Ataxia: A Multifaceted Approach to Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC). Cerebellum (London. Print). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-024-01675-0