Personal Narrative

The act of telling others about one's own experiences, events, and feelings — a fundamental aspect of human social interaction. Personal narrative serves multiple functions: building and maintaining relationships, developing identity and sense of self, processing experiences emotionally, and practising language skills. For people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), personal narrative is particularly challenging because most AAC devices prioritise transactional communication (making requests, answering questions) over storytelling. This gap means AAC users often cannot share what happened during their day, tell jokes, or recount experiences — activities that are essential for social inclusion and emotional wellbeing.