When It Is Used
Use it when participation issues appear connected to people, places, routines, physical setup, or other contextual factors.
Contextual Facilitators & Barriers Map
Contextual Facilitators & Barriers Map is an AAC planning tool for practitioners and teams. It helps identify environmental, social, physical, and contextual factors that affect AAC participation, connect them to settings or partners, and prioritize actionable environmental targets.
Explore a sample context map
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Tool guide
Learn more about this tool
Use this background section to understand when the tool fits, how practitioners use it, and what to consider before sharing it with clients.
What It Captures
The map captures settings, partners, facilitators, barriers, actionability, priority order, and follow-up notes.
Relevant Limitations
The map does not diagnose causes, score environments, compare devices, or generate intervention steps automatically.
Does this tool create AAC goals?
No. It identifies contextual facilitators, barriers, and environmental targets; it does not create an AAC goal plan.
Can the same factor be both a facilitator and a barrier?
Yes. If it functions differently across settings, it should appear separately in each relevant context.
What happens to vague barriers?
Vague barriers are marked as needing clarification before they become actionable targets.
Who controls the priorities?
The practitioner controls priority ordering, using available team or user input where relevant.