In attempting to develop and organize personalized AAC systems for young children with complex communication needs, it is important for school-based interventionists to know of and build upon daily experiences outside of the classroom, including interests, language, and ideas that are valued in the home environment. However, it is an ongoing challenge to learn of and, in turn, use this information to regularly update AAC systems and to provide instruction in ways that allow children to talk about familiar, motivating experiences and become increasingly competent communicators using AAC. We discuss how this problem has been approached in a preschool setting using a curricular activity of the Bridge School program, the regular sharing of what we call ‘Home News’. Through the use of case examples with video and audio recordings, we illustrate how ‘Home News’ is used to expand AAC systems and to provide instruction specifically targeting individualized goals and objectives across operational, strategic, social, and linguistic competencies. We describe our process for recording, archiving, and analyzing ‘Home News’ and provide tip sheets for promoting a family’s selection and recording of ‘Home News’ to best support and expand their child’s growing communicative competence with AAC.
