One key component in the evaluation process which goes beyond assessing skill levels is the assessment of current and anticipated barriers to successful use of an augmentative device.

Barriers to communication are evident in communication interactions between highly competent communicators. Examples could include too many people speaking at the same time, wanting to speak in a very quiet setting as in a theater, being told by a professor that she will not accept questions until the last ten minutes, asking directions in a foreign country, etc.

The barriers faced by a communication impaired individual can be effectively grouped into two broad areas which are Opportunity Barriers and Access Barriers (Beukelman, 1992).

Opportunity Barriers can be both external and internal. Laws set by states and school policies can provide opportunity barriers. If a student spends much of his/her time in a segregated setting, there will be reduced opportunity. If a district insists that a piece of equipment cannot go home because they paid for it, there will be reduced opportunity.

Many of these barriers are not the direct result of actual laws however, but they are perceived to be the law since that is how it has always been done. Negative attitudes of individuals can create opportunity barriers such as the child told by his mother to stay away from the "retarded child" or the teacher who refuses to accept a student into his classroom, or the store keeper who is always too busy to assist the family if the child with special needs is with them.

Internally, even within the AAC team itself, barriers may be present which minimize opportunity. Someone who is fearful of the technology may avoid it in the same way that the person who considers himself computer illiterate avoids new tasks on the computer. If team members do not feel that they have the skills and competencies to deal with the new equipment, they are likely to foster opportunity barriers.

Access barriers relate to the capabilities and limitations of the AAC user himself and his ability to participate in communication interactions. A very lengthy list of access barriers could be presented here. Instead, it may be more helpful to identify several broad areas of concern .

Motor skill and motor limitations is one broad area. Factors such as posture, wheel chair access, eye-hand coordination, finger dexterity, mobility, eye-gaze, and overall strength are only some of the motor related barriers to accessing alternative communication devices.

A second broad area is that of cognitive skills. Factors which can impact in this area include, but again are not limited to vocabulary skills, attending skills, sequencing skills, literacy skills, problem-solving skills, abstract thinking skills, and symbolic representation skills.

The third broad area is the sensory skills area. This may be the most obvious group of barriers and relates to skills in the areas of hearing and vision.

It should be clear that an assessment for augmentative communication must take an in-depth view of all of the obvious and not-so-obvious barriers. It should also be clear that this cannot be the task of one individual. The team process is essential for the identification of barriers and then the process of eliminating and/or compensating for as many of the negative impacts as possible.