AACCENT Act

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Centers of Excellence and National Technical Assistance Act or the AACCENT Act

This bill establishes a grant program to create national resource centers on augmentative and alternative communication.

Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award three grants in geographically diverse regions to establish a network of these resource centers for individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities, particularly through improved access to tools, technologies, strategies, training, and other methods.

Significant expressive communication disabilities are communication disabilities (other than communication disabilities that are primarily visual or auditory in nature) that prevent or significantly limit an individual from understanding or being understood using spoken words, resulting in the need for or benefit from augmentative and alternative communication.