Special educators and speech-language pathologists offer their colleagues a methods book for using augmentative and alternative communications with learners who have severe developmental disabilities. They compile empirically validated procedures to establish a beginning functional communicative repertoire. In addition to describing implementation procedures, they review some of the basic principles on which the procedures are based. The topics include improving communicative competence through alternative selection methods, gaining access to desired objects and activities, and using augmentative strategies to enhance communication of verbal mode users. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)