In 1959, Lloyd Price hit #2 on the music charts with the song, “Personality.”  I must have heard it on television or something because the following lyrics from the chorus have been running through my mind:

‘cause you got personality,
walk, personality
talk, personality
smile, personality

Well, you get the idea.

The older generation in my family had a lot of personality…and a lot of varied personalities.  My grandmother was a soft-spoken, shy woman filled with steadfastness and strength.  My grandfather had a sense of the ridiculous that was masked at times by his reserved nature.  My great aunt was a talker.  Oh, my!  She could talk the hind leg off a mule, as they say.   She had a great zest for life.  Her brother was a musician and loved the good things in life.  My other grandparents were opposites – one a homebody who wasn’t a big fan of people in general preferring animals and nature while the other loved to laugh and host parties.  They communicated differently and about different things.

You might think that I am going to talk about how to customize vocabulary for people based on this introduction but I am not (though that is certainly important).  Rather, I am going to reinforce a simple and perhaps obvious principle that each person will use AAC differently…and that is not only alright but to be expected and honored.  Some people will talk a lot.  Some will rarely communicate.  Some will talk about many subjects while others will discuss a select few.  Augmented communicators communicate differently and about different things.

The amount or variety of communication is not what makes it compelling, it is the personality behind the communication that does so.